The Proposal Reaction
by NerdForestGirl
Summary: This is a sequel to my story, The Cohabitation Experiment. Penny finally proposed to Leonard and this has a strange effect on Sheldon and his relationship with Amy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a sequel to The Cohabitation Experiment. If you haven't read it, just know that Amy now lives with Sheldon in his room and they love each other. I guess that's it. I've been wanting to start this story for a while, so here goes nothing.**

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Leonard picked up the last box of his belongings to take it across the hall. Sheldon refused to help. He complained that everything was too heavy and that's why he wouldn't help his friend move, but everyone knew that it was because Sheldon felt betrayed.

"Sheldon, you have Amy now. She'll help you when I can't, and I'll even draft a Neighbor Agreement or a Friendship Agreement with you soon. I'll just be across the hall if you need anything," Leonard offered before he left the apartment. He certainly wasn't leaving it for the last time. It was bigger and the guys didn't like spending time at Penny's as much. He would be back for video game nights and dinners and as much as he hated to admit it, Sheldon was his best friend. They wouldn't lose that just because Penny had finally proposed marriage.

Sheldon just huffed in response. Leonard wasn't sure what Sheldon expected. Amy had been living with them for almost a whole month already. Did Sheldon think Penny was going to move in with them too? Four people in that apartment would be just too much. It was hard enough having three of them share the bathroom and there was no way that Penny would adhere to a bathroom schedule. They were all adults and they were all friends. It would work out much better if they were neighbors for the time being.

Of course, Sheldon's main problem was that he didn't like change. That was probably why his relationship with Amy hadn't progressed at all despite the fact that they lived in the same bedroom. Everyone could see Amy's frustration with the situation. She wouldn't push Sheldon, but it was obvious that she hoped for more when she moved in. Maybe not marriage exactly, but at least a more physical relationship.

Leonard just shrugged and left with his last box. Penny took it from him and kissed him when he reached her door. They were each wearing shiny engagement rings on their fingers. Penny bought Leonard one when she proposed and the Leonard took her to the jewelry store to get her own the next day. His was a simple gold band that was not unlike the ring from The Lord of the Rings, and hers was a more classically styled engagement ring with as big a diamond as Leonard could afford.

They were both gooey and happy and Sheldon hated it. He was happy with Amy, and he wasn't so selfish that he didn't want Leonard and Penny to be happy. He just couldn't understand why Leonard had to move out for that to happen.

Amy sat next to him and put her hand on his leg, but Sheldon pulled away from her. She didn't say anything and pulled her hand back to her own lap. He usually found her presence comforting, but he wanted to be alone. Amy tried to be understanding, so she got up and got Sheldon some hot chocolate with seven marshmallows. He took it from her with a nod and a thank you.

They usually went to bed at the same time, but Amy got tired of waiting for Sheldon when bedtime came and went. She asked him if he was okay and he assured her that he was, so she went to bed without him. It had been the first time she fell asleep not curled into Sheldon's side in over a month. It was hard to fall asleep without him, but she eventually drifted off.

Sheldon wasn't there when she woke up either. Amy pulled on her robe and went out to the living room. He was asleep on the couch. He had come into their room at some point after she had fallen asleep and gotten his pajamas from the dresser. He'd also gotten a pillow and blanket from the closet. It was obvious that it wasn't an accident that he'd slept out there.

Amy was hurt. She didn't know if she should wake him up or not, but she wanted answers. He had fought her so hard for her not to move in until the day that he suddenly wanted her to live with him. This was something else entirely. Since that first night together, he always liked sharing a bed with her. She was just just staring at him when he started stirring and woke up.

"What's going on, Sheldon? You didn't come to bed and slept out here on the couch instead? I know you're upset about Leonard, but did I do something?" Amy asked.

"You didn't do anything. I went in to go to bed and you were there asleep and I just couldn't do it. I don't know why. It was easier to just come out here to sleep," Sheldon said.

"Do you still love me, Sheldon?" Amy asked. It was a question that she both needed to hear the answer to and couldn't stand knowing the answer if it was the wrong one.

"Yes. I love you. I don't think anything can change that," Sheldon said simply. He didn't know what was going on, but it was suddenly as difficult to touch Amy as it was to touch anyone else. He still knew that he loved her, that he couldn't live without her, but there was a wall there. He couldn't figure himself out, let alone give her an explanation for his behavior. All he could do was hope that she would be patient and that she would wait for him to get back to where he should be. Where he'd been a few days before.

Amy was near tears. He was acting so... so much like Sheldon. At least the Sheldon she used to know. The one who complained about holding her hand at the movies. The one who wouldn't kiss her. Maybe it was just Leonard leaving. He would be okay again in a few days. Amy knew that Sheldon didn't like change and this was probably the biggest change in his life in the last decade, other than her. It was always easier to feel love than abandonment. Sheldon would be okay once he realized that Leonard hadn't really left him.

"I'm going to get ready for work. Then I'm going move some of my things into Leonard's old room. I'll be staying in there for the time being," Amy said without giving Sheldon a chance to respond.

Sheldon sat there on the couch, terrified that he was ruining things with Amy, but unsure how to fix them. Maybe she understood. Maybe that's why she was giving him space. She didn't say anything to him when she left for work and he was in the kitchen making his breakfast.

Sheldon realized that he didn't know how he was getting to work, so he got dressed and knocked across the hall. When Leonard answered, Sheldon asked, "Can you drive me to work? Amy left already."

"Yeah. I was just about to come over and get you. I'll keep driving you to work, Sheldon."

"You will?"

"You are still my friend, and we work at the same place and we live across the hall. Like I told you yesterday, you can even write up some sort of friendship agreement if it will make you feel better. This is going to work out, buddy. You'll see."

Leonard drove Sheldon to and home from work, and that weekend they did write up a Friendship Agreement between the two of them. Some of Leonard's responsibilities changed, but he still had to drive Sheldon to work unless he have him 24 hours notice. They still were going to have video game nights, and Leonard still had to bring Sheldon dinner at least one night a week. There were several more odds and ends that were tied up, but Sheldon was feeling much better about Leonard living across the hall instead of in 4A.

He still couldn't touch Amy as easily has he once could. When he was feeling good about the situation with Leonard again, he tried to put his hand on Amy's knee. She took it as a good sign and snuggled into his side a little bit. Instead, Sheldon panicked and got up to get something to drink. Amy didn't try to touch him again after that. As Leonard's and Sheldon's relationship went back to normal, Amy realized that their problems must have more to do with her than Leonard's moving out. She just didn't understand what it might be.

By the end of the week, Amy was living in Leonard's old room all the time. She thought about moving out, but her old apartment had been rented to someone else already. Living there was as good as living anywhere else.

That was the thing; she was sure that Sheldon still loved her. She could see it in his eyes when he spoke to her or when he did little things to take care of her. He also told her that he loved her regularly. He enjoyed it when she said it back, but still wasn't at all comfortable touching her. Sheldon would occasionally put an arm around Amy or even give her a quick kiss, but she could tell that he wasn't comfortable with it. Eventually, she stopped trying to touch him and only responded halfheartedly when he made attempts. It wasn't enjoyable when he clearly wasn't into it.

There was a wedge in their relationship, and Amy was at a complete and utter loss how to fix it. She still hoped time might fix things between them because she felt like she was losing Sheldon.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys. I hope you all are finding this story interesting so far. I would love some feedback because this story is different than the others I've written. Thanks. I love you guys and I hope you keep reading.**

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Sheldon and Amy became very wrapped up in Leonard and Penny's wedding. Sheldon was Leonard's best man. Penny couldn't choose between Amy and Bernadette for her maid of honor, so they were sharing the job. Amy was glad for the distraction because it helped her keep her mind off of what was going on at home.

There were days that Amy almost forgot how distant Sheldon was. She would wake up and go to work and then spend the night across the hall from her home helping Penny address invitations only to go home very tired. Sleeping in Leonard's old room would remind her of what she had lost, but she was tired enough that after a few tears she would be asleep. Then she could wake up and do it all over again the next day.

The new pattern was comforting for Amy, so she was starting to dread the wedding itself. Once all of the planning and preparation was over, she didn't know how she would distract herself from her situation with Sheldon. Every once in a while, Amy would get up the courage to ask Sheldon if he knew why the change had occurred or if there was anything she could do, but Sheldon was always at a loss.

Leonard and Penny knew what was going on even though they were pretty wrapped up in their wedding preparations. It wasn't the kind of thing that either Amy or Sheldon felt comfortable talking about, so it took a while before their friends found out that they were sleeping in separate rooms. Amy felt rejected by Sheldon and Sheldon felt like a failure.

"Leonard, I don't feel the same kind of anxiety as when I touch others. If I were to give you a hug I might be worried about germs or feel a general discomfort. When I touch Amy, it's like I'm completely terrified, but I don't know why. I love her, but she scares me," Sheldon admitted one night while they were playing video games in his apartment.

The months moved quickly with no progress. The wedding between Leonard and Penny was beautiful. Amy was much more relaxed that she had been with Howard and Bernadette's wedding. She even caught the bouquet, but it didn't give her any hope about a future marriage of her own any time soon, although Sheldon did hold her hand for a few minutes before his speech. Maybe he was starting to gain comfort from contact rather than lose it. Sheldon also danced with Amy for one song. The whole night almost had Amy optimistic about their future, but Sheldon stayed far away from her once they were home again.

That night Amy didn't sleep. She just cried alone in her room. The small amount of affection combined with the fact that the wedding was over broke her heart. She came up with a new plan: she was going to throw herself into her work. Amy would never be able to bring herself to leave Sheldon despite his flaws, so she would live her life like before she met him. Work until exhausted and then repeat. Amy was starting to feel like she would never get her Sheldon back, but she didn't want anyone else either.

Amy spent plenty of time with Sheldon, but it was easy to stay late at work or spend time with Penny and Bernadette whenever they asked. She didn't want to leave him or cheat on him. Before Sheldon, there hadn't really been anyone. There just wasn't as much appeal sitting home with Sheldon every night. Work or the girls were just better sometimes. Or at least less painful. Amy had spent years with Sheldon before he would even kiss her, but it was so much harder knowing what it was like to have him caress her skin or kiss her lips.

Sheldon felt like he was spending more and more time alone. Raj had a new girlfriend and Leonard and Howard were married. That meant that they weren't around for video game nights or Klingon Boggle as much anymore. His friends were leaving him and he was pushing Amy away. He knew that their troubles were his fault, and he was going end up alone for it. Maybe he was crazy after all.

Sitting alone in the apartment for the fourth night in a row, Sheldon decided it was time to make some changes. He was going to fix this thing with Amy. If he didn't, he was going to lose her. He decided he didn't care how scared he was, he was going to start making this up to her. Sheldon was a loss of where to start, so he decided to go see the only person he thought might understand: his MeeMaw.

He called Amy at work. He rarely bothered her there because he knew that she used it to escape him. "Amy, would you like to go to Texas with me for the weekend? I'm planning a trip to visit my family."

"I don't know, Sheldon. I'm not sure I'm up to spending a whole weekend with you," Amy said. Her voice cracked while she said it. There was a time when that would have been her biggest dream come true. These days it was just another reminder of what they had lost.

"I'll pay for everything. I know I have no right to ask for it, but it would mean a lot if you would come with me."

Amy sighed. "Okay. I'll come with, but I can't leave until after work on Friday and I need to be back by Monday. If you want to stay longer, you'll need to make separate arrangements for me."

"No. That works perfectly for me. I'll make the arrangements right now, and I guess I'll see you when you get home."

"I'll probably be late, Sheldon," Amy said before she hung up.

Sheldon called his mother to inform his family of the visit before making the flight reservations. She was excited to see Sheldon and Amy again. She didn't know about the problems between them, and he didn't want to explain over the phone. Mostly because his mother didn't know how serious things were getting before everything went wrong. She didn't even know that they were living together.

Amy was right about being home late. Sheldon was in bed when he heard her come though the door. He got out of bed and went to the kitchen where Amy was standing, staring into their refrigerator. "I booked us a flight leaving Saturday morning and coming home Sunday night," Sheldon told Amy before realizing how tired she looked. "Did you have dinner?" he asked.

Amy shook her head. Sheldon sighed and put his hand on her arm to lead her to the couch. It wasn't until he saw the way that she looked at him that he noticed what he was doing. Sometimes, some other need made itself known and Sheldon was better. At least for a little while. In that moment, he needed to take care of Amy. He hugged her and sat her down before getting her some soup.

Amy knew better than to take the hug at anything more than a hug. The soup came from a more real place than the hug did. The soup represented Sheldon's real caring for Amy. He might never be her lover, but he did love her. Those were the moments when Amy knew, that even if she couldn't be Sheldon's girlfriend, she wanted to be his friend. She was still just trying to figure out how to make that work without breaking her own heart. So far nothing was working in that regard.

When Friday came around, Amy still wondered why she let Sheldon talk her into going to Texas. The weekend might have been nice at home alone, but she wouldn't get to find out. Instead, she had a bag packed for the weekend and ready for their early morning flight the next day.

Amy went home relatively early that night since she had to get up early the next morning. Sheldon was still up and watching TV when she came in. Amy sat next to him, but he jumped up as soon as she did. "I didn't even touch you," Amy said, exasperated.

"I know. I was getting you some tea. You look like you might need it. Would you like some dinner too? Penny brought me Chinese and there is plenty left."

Amy got up to help herself to some food instead of letting Sheldon bring it to her. His fingers brushed hers as he handed her the tea. She flinched back and spilled a little on herself. It burned but she ignored it. She wondered when she had become as unaccustomed to touch as he had. Maybe she was back where she was when she first met Sheldon too. Leonard's leaving reverted them both to the previous versions of themselves. When Amy told Sheldon that all forms of physical contact were off the table, she meant it. She hadn't wanted to kiss or touch much of anyone before him.

"I think I'm going to move out when we get back from Texas," Amy said suddenly. She didn't even realize that she had decided it until she said it out loud.

"Are you breaking up with me?" Sheldon asked frantically. "I love you."

"I know you do. I love you too, but it's killing me to live this way. I don't want to break up with you, but I think maybe some space will help."

"You can't leave me," Sheldon said, but he was resigned to his fate. He knew this was coming sooner or later.

"I'm not leaving. I just need some... distance. I love you, Sheldon," Amy told him.

He just nodded sadly before saying, "I love you too." Then he went back to his room to go to bed. It was the first night in a long time that he truly missed having her in his arms as he slept. He felt like she was already gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews. The last chapter of this story got the most amount of reviews I've ever gotten on a single chapter. That meant a lot to me, so I wanted to thank you for it. Starting on Monday, I'm going to a regular posting schedule of alternating MWF with my other current story (that means that if you follow both, you get three chapters from me each week). Thanks so much for reading and reviewing. **

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Sheldon woke up the next morning and went to have a quick breakfast before they had to leave. Amy was already there pouring herself some orange juice and having some toast. She offered Sheldon some and he took it quietly. They weren't really sure how to interact with each other anymore.

Sheldon thought about telling Amy not to come to Texas with him, but he realized it was his last shot to get her back. If he left her in California, she might be moved out by the time he got back home. It was important that he get her to at least delay moving out if he could. Not by force, but by actually showing her how much he loved her again.

He took her bag down the car and got into the passenger seat. Amy appeared a few minutes later. Sheldon stared at her for the entire drive. He'd almost allowed himself to forget how beautiful she was, but he was hypnotized by the way she nodded or shook her head while listening to the news reports on the radio.

They got to the airport and through security without many problems. Their flight was leaving on time, so Sheldon felt like this trip might help him really turn things around. Amy was quiet for most of the flight, but she wasn't ignoring him. They even talked about her work for about twenty minutes, but she preferred to read.

It was early afternoon when they arrived outside of Sheldon's childhood home. It was a small ranch house that Amy thought was quite idyllic. Sheldon's mother ran out when she saw them pull up outside the house.

She hugged Sheldon and then Amy. "Hey, kids. We had lunch without you, but there is plenty left if you are hungry. Come in, come in," Mary said wrapping her arm around Amy's waist and ushering in inside the house. Sheldon grabbed the bags out of the trunk of the rental car before following them in.

There was an old woman sitting in a recliner in the living room, but she jumped up with the energy of a much younger woman. "This must be Moon Pie's girl. Hi, Amy, I'm Sheldon's grandmother. You can call me MeeMaw. Everyone else does." Then the woman wrapped her arms around Amy. Amy had been touched more in the last ten minutes than she had been in the weeks prior.

When MeeMaw let Amy go, she pulled Sheldon into a hug. Amy had to admit that she was a little jealous when Sheldon returned the hug with no hesitancy. Amy, herself, was the only other person she had seen Sheldon hug so comfortably, but that was before.

"Mary, get these kids something to eat. They've been travelin' all day," MeeMaw said.

"I'm going, I'm going," Mary muttered as she walked into the kitchen. Amy followed her to help, but she was quickly sent back into the living room to sit with Sheldon and MeeMaw.

"Sheldon has told me so much about you, Amy, but it's so good to finally meet you. You've made my boy so happy, and I'll admit that we weren't always sure that he would find love, but he sure has found it in you."

Amy felt a little guilty because MeeMaw obviously didn't have the full story. She wondered how long it had been since Sheldon had spoken to his grandmother.

"Why, he was just tellin' me last week about your new work project. I've never heard this boy sound so proud about something that wasn't his own doing," MeeMaw finished up.

Amy looked at Sheldon and he was smiling at her. He did look proud, but Amy still felt sad and guilty. "Amy is the smartest woman I know, present company excluded," Sheldon said as he bumped his knee into hers.

That was enough to send tears down Amy's face. "Excuse me, where is the bathroom?" she asked. This wasn't the time or the place to be crying. Sheldon stood up and showed it to her before leaving her alone.

Amy wasn't just crying because of the actual physical contact, but it also reminded her of that day, over a year ago now, that Sheldon had first kissed her. They bumped knees just like that and then Sheldon walked Amy to her car where he kissed her. The night was burned into her memory just like it was probably burned into Sheldon's. She wondered why he would do that to her.

"Amy, darlin', I've got some food here for you. Are you okay?" Mary asked through the door.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Mrs. Cooper. I'll be right there," Amy said through the door. She hoped that she sounded convincing enough. She also wondered why she let Sheldon bring her down here.

Amy splashed some water on her face and walked back out. Sheldon was on the couch where he'd been before. She assumed that was his spot here. He had two plates of food on his knee and clearly waited for her to come back to start.

He handed her the second plate and Amy thought it smelled wonderful. She wasn't planning on eating, but there seemed to be something very real about the notion of comfort food. She decided to do some research on it when she could. First, she nearly cleaned her plate. It had been too long since she had eaten a real meal like that.

Sheldon took her plate and went to go wash them. Amy wasn't sure if she should follow him to help, but Mary stopped her from getting up. "So, how is everyone doing? Is the Indian boy still having trouble talking to girls? It's been too long since I've been out to visit my boy and his friends."

"Rajesh overcame his problem talking to women. I've been very interested in how that worked, but he won't let me run any scans. Leonard and Penny have been happy with being married so far. Other than that, everything is pretty much the same," Amy told her.

"And Shelly has been doing okay on his own? I've been worried about him since Leonard moved out."

"I don't think it's been easy on him, but he has been managing. I think it helps that Leonard is still just across the hall because he can drive Sheldon to work and such things. I pick up the slack where I can."

"You are so good for him. He's been a different person since he met you," Mary said. Amy bit her lip to stop from crying again. Amy wondered if this had been Sheldon's plan. Get her with his family and have them all tell her how wonderful she is for him and how much he loves her. If so, it was excessively cruel.

"Excuse me," Amy said and she went to find Sheldon.

He was finishing up drying the dishes when Amy walked in. "Did you put them up to this? Is this some last ditch attempt to keep me?"

"What did my mother say?"

"She was just telling me how good I am for you and how you are so much better now."

"I promise you that I didn't ask them to say anything. They don't even know what a failure I am. I couldn't bring myself to tell them."

"You aren't a failure, Sheldon," Amy said sadly. Then without thinking, she walked up to Sheldon and wrapped her arms around him. There was something about being in this unfamiliar house that made Amy forget what she was doing. She realized that she was hugging him and started to pull away and apologize when he returned the hug.

"I missed this," she said as she pulled away. "I'm pretty sure that was the first real hug you've given me in months."

"I'm sorry," Sheldon said. He finished drying the dishes and put them away in the cabinet. They walked back out into the living room.

"I don't know if you want to lay down for a while, but we're all going to dinner with Junior and Missy," Mary started. "Now, Shelly, of course your brother and sister want to see you while you are in town and they want to meet your girl," Mary finished after catching Sheldon's eye roll. "Anyway, I don't know how y'all sleep at home, but in my house you are in separate bedrooms. Sheldon, you are in your old room and Amy is in Missy's old room."

Lying down sounded really good to Amy, so she let Mary show her to the room. She hadn't slept well the night before and the travel was hard on her too. Sheldon, on the other hand, decided to stay and talk to MeeMaw. That's why he had traveled over a thousand miles, so he might as well get started.

Once he was sure that his mother was out of hearing range, Sheldon started talking to his grandmother. "MeeMaw, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Moon Pie. This is about Amy isn't it? I was surprised by how standoffish you've been since you've gotten here. I know that you aren't very big on physical contact, but I would have thought that you would be over that; the way you talk about that girl."

"I was. I could touch her and kiss her and I wanted more. Then my friend, Leonard got engaged and married and it scared me. Something changed and now I can't anymore. I still love her, but I can't. Now, I'm about to lose her."

"What do you mean, you can't? Why can't you?" MeeMaw asked.

"I'm afraid. She scares me," Sheldon said.

"Scares you how?" MeeMaw asked and Sheldon started to answer. "No. Remember when you were a little boy and you had trouble telling me what you wanted because you had too many thoughts at once? Close your eyes and think about what you are feeling."

Sheldon did. He tried to think about the fear that ran though him every time he touched Amy. He thought about why he was afraid. Was it because she might hurt him? Physically, no. Maybe she would stop loving him. That would hurt. Maybe she would want too much from him. That would hurt. Would she want marriage next? Then children? What if he was a failure at both of those things?

"I'm afraid she will leave me. I don't want to give her any more of myself because it will be all the worse when she goes and takes it with her," Sheldon said. He was shocked at the clarity of his thoughts. That's why he needed MeeMaw. She was the only one who could get him to know exactly what he needed. What he wanted.

"Sounds like you've found your problem. I was with your Pop Pop for a long time, and during that time I learned that you have to share yourself if you really love someone. Amy loves you and you love her, but you have to stop holding yourself back," MeeMaw said. She patted her grandson's cheek and told him to go lie down for a while.

The walk to Sheldon's childhood bedroom took him past Missy's old room. The door was cracked, so he peered in. Amy was lying down and he couldn't tell if she was asleep. He knocked gently on the door.

"Come in, Sheldon."

"Are you going to be alright in here?" he asked.

"I'll be fine. Thank you," Amy said. Sheldon noticed that her tone was oddly formal, but it was the same tone she always used with him now. She was nothing if not polite.

"Have a good nap. I'll wake you up in plenty of time to get ready to go have dinner with my family," Sheldon said. He thought about his conversation with his grandmother and leaned down to kiss Amy's forehead. "I'm going to try a lot harder now. I don't expect you to stay with me, but I want to prove to you that I do love you before you go. You deserve to know that I've always loved you."


	4. Chapter 4

Amy curled into a ball on her side. Sheldon's words were making her sob, but she was trying to keep it quiet. She loved him so much. That was the only reason why she was still with him. If she was anyone else, she would have left a long time ago. Now, he said he was going to try harder. Amy didn't know if she could believe him. Maybe it was just a show while they were in Texas.

She got up and went to find Sheldon. She didn't know the house, but his door had a white board and several stickers proclaiming that "physics rules." It didn't seem much like the Sheldon she knew, but it seemed unlikely the door belonged to anyone else. She knocked lightly and he told her to come in.

"Amy? Is everything okay?" Sheldon asked. He could tell she had been crying. He stood up from the twin bed when she walked in.

"I don't know if I can do this, Sheldon. I don't want to pretend everything is okay. You said you would try harder, but I've heard that from you before. How do I know you won't go back when we are at home again?"

"You don't, but I realized that I'm afraid to give myself to you because it would hurt if I screwed it up. Only, that's exactly what I've been doing. I've been screwing it up and I've hurt both of us. I can't say I can fix it overnight, but I want to try. I will try until you walk out our door. Then I will keep trying after that."

Amy stepped closer to him and she could see that he was afraid, but he didn't step away from her like he normally would. She reached out to touch his arm, but he caught her hand with his own and held it.

They stood like that until they heard Mary in the hall. "Didn't I tell you kids separate bedrooms?" she said as she opened the door. Then she saw that they were standing several feet apart and only holding hands.

"Yes, Mom. We're just talking," Sheldon said while rolling his eyes. He always felt like a child again when he was in this house.

Mary left and Amy said, "Wow. She's even more strict than my mother."

Sheldon smiled and kissed Amy's forehead again. "I'll do what I can to prove to you that I want to fix this."

"Can we incur the wrath of your mother and lie down together? I think it's what I've missed most of all," Amy asked. It felt like a dream, so she decided to go with it.

Sheldon nodded, and he lay down against the wall on the twin bed. Amy hesitated, but she got onto the bed with Sheldon. He put his hand on her waist and pulled her close to him. She could feel his heart pounding from his chest on her back. She could tell he was scared.

"I'll get up," Amy said.

"Please don't. I'm scared, but I'm more scared of you leaving," Sheldon said as he snuggled into her back a little more. He had missed this the most too.

At that moment, Mary came back. She opened the door without knocking and was about to start yelling at her son again, but she was cut off before she could even start. "Mary, you leave those kids alone. They aren't going to do anything in your house," MeeMaw yelled from the living room. Mary stalled for a moment and looked at Sheldon and Amy just cuddling on the bed. She nodded, "But I'm going to leave this door open if you are both in here."

Amy could eventually feel Sheldon's heart calm down, so her own followed it. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep there in his arms. Despite the months, it was still the place she felt the safest. Mary kept finding reasons to walk down the hall to check on her son, but after the fourth time of walking by just to see them asleep, she stopped.

Sheldon woke up and there was about an hour until they had to go to dinner. He shook Amy slightly. "We have to go to dinner soon," he told her.

Amy groaned a little bit and sat up. Then she looked back as Sheldon, and didn't know what to say. She didn't feel like everything was fixed. Life didn't work that way. It wasn't a novel. Sheldon couldn't come back and everything between them was suddenly fixed. Still, she needed to say something. "Thank you," was all that would come out.

Amy went to wash her face and brush her hair while Sheldon stayed to put on a fresh t-shirt. He was sure that they would not be going anywhere fancy for dinner, but his shirt was wrinkled from sleeping in it.

Everyone was ready to go by the time Sheldon arrived in the living room. He smiled a little when he saw Amy and MeeMaw chatting quietly. He was glad that they were getting along. Of course they would. Everyone loves MeeMaw.

"Oh good. You're ready to go," Mary said when she noticed Sheldon. "I was worried that I was going to have to go back there and drag you out."

Sheldon offered an arm to his grandmother before slipping his other hand in Amy's. Then he looked at his mother and said, "Um. It seems that I do not have enough arms." Amy let go of his hand and stepped away from him.

"Please, Mrs. Cooper," Amy said as she gestured to Sheldon.

Mary frowned at how easily Amy pulled away from Sheldon. Despite her misgivings about them sleeping in the same bed earlier, she was very pleased that her Sheldon found someone who loved him for who he was.

"No. You go ahead," Mary insisted.

Amy tentatively put her hand back in Sheldon's free hand. Then they all walked out to Mary's car. MeeMaw sat in the front, leaving Amy and Sheldon in the back seat together. Amy didn't offer her hand to Sheldon as they rode to the restaurant and he didn't try to reach for it. Sheldon had never had to push for any kind of contact in this relationship. Amy wasn't aggressive, but she never hid that she wanted more physical contact with Sheldon. Now, he was going to have to push back.

Maybe he was start the next day. No. If he kept putting it off, he was going to lose her. Sheldon reached over and took Amy's hand from her knee. She looked at him and he flicked his eyebrows up as if asking if it was okay. She nodded slightly. Amy was still weary of his actions, but she was willing to let him try. Besides, she missed him.

MeeMaw peppered Amy with questions about her work. Amy was surprised by how well versed the old woman was with modern neurobiology. She understood the basics at least, and Amy didn't feel the need to dumb everything down. It wasn't like she was speaking to a coworker or even Sheldon, but it was still refreshing to speak to someone who wasn't bored or confused by her work.

After they arrived at the restaurant, Sheldon leaned over and whispered, "She's been wanting to impress you. She made me recommend a good basic neurobiology book and I also sent her the copy of Neuron with you on the cover. She didn't ask for that second one, but she obviously read it."

Amy was surprised that she would go to so much work to impress her. Wasn't Amy the one who was supposed to be impressing Sheldon's family? Maybe she had more faith in Sheldon than she thought because she realized that she did care if they liked her. Or maybe it was just her upbringing. Either way, Amy plastered a big smile on her face as she went to meet her boyfriend's brother and sister. Even only having seen pictures of them, she spotted them right away. They were tall and they each had the exact same shade of hair as Sheldon.

Mary grabbed Amy by the waist and brought her forward. This pulled her hand out of Sheldon's, and for the first time in a while, she felt lost without his touch. "This is Shelly's girl, Amy. Amy, this is Junior and Missy." Amy shook each of their hands and informed them that it was very nice to meet them. They were both obviously more boisterous than Sheldon, and they made friendly small talk with Amy while they waited for a table to become available.

"Shelly, how did you get a girl this cute?" Junior said while giving Sheldon a small punch on the shoulder. Sheldon still rubbed his arm like it hurt.

"She isn't just cute. She's smart too," Sheldon said proudly. Amy had grown up an only child, so she thought the way Sheldon changed around his siblings was interesting. It was actually refreshing to watch him be so different. His relationship with Leonard was close, but not the same as with his siblings.

"No offense, Amy, but you can't be that smart if you're still with Sheldon," Junior said teasingly. She knew it was a joke, but it still hit close to home. She tried to keep the smile plastered on her face, but she could feel the tears burning in the corners of her eyes. MeeMaw must have heard the exchange because she appeared at Amy's side and pulled her away from the group.

Mary didn't miss it either, so she joined Amy and MeeMaw, leaving her children to talk amongst each other. MeeMaw just rubbed Amy's arm. "It's okay, darlin'," MeeMaw told her. "It was just a joke. Junior might be better at socializing than his brother, but that doesn't mean he has social graces."

Amy nodded. It was clear that MeeMaw had been filled in on the problems at home, but Mary looked confused. She knew it wasn't the time to ask about it, but she was going to get to the bottom of it before the left the next night. Besides, their table was ready right then.

Walking back over, Amy reached for Sheldon's hand and he eagerly took hers as they walked to the table. Missy looked a little shocked that her brother was so willing to hold his girlfriend's hand, but she knew better than to say anything.

Once they sat down Amy whispered, "How is this suddenly so easy for you?" It was the kind of question that should probably wait until they were alone, but he had been doing so well after months of it being impossible that she couldn't wait to ask.

"It isn't. It's just easier than losing you," Sheldon whispered back.

Amy tried to take her hand back because she didn't like making Sheldon uncomfortable, but he tightened his grip and said, "It's easier than losing you."


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of dinner was only mildly awkward. Sheldon finally let go of Amy's hand when the food came. She needed to talk to him about this, but it wasn't the time. Amy hugged both Missy and Junior when dinner was over. She was glad to finally meet Sheldon's family. Then they got back into Mary's car and back to the house. His family was big on touching even if he wasn't.

They all went inside the small house and sat in the living room together. Mary didn't want to wait to find out what was going on with her younger son, so she asked, "Have you two been having problems at home?"

Sheldon knew his mother would figure it out sooner or later. Her ability to figure out his life was one of the reasons he didn't come home very often. She could always tell what was going on rather quickly. Though, given the length of his problems with Amy, he supposed he should be grateful that Leonard or Penny didn't call her long ago.

He nodded and wondered how to begin. "I've been unable to maintain any physical contact with Amy since Leonard moved out. She's been beyond patient with me, but I've pushed her to her limits and has decided to move out when we get back from this trip."

"You've been living together?"

They both nodded. She was mad that they had kept this from her, but on the other hand, it was clear that they were hurting. "When you say physical contact, do you mean that you two were sinnin'?"

"No. I mean that I couldn't even brush hair away from her face or hold her hand. We haven't kissed in months."

"You two were holding hands earlier," Mary started. "But you weren't when you got here. You came for help," she finished when she realized what was going on.

Sheldon just nodded again. Amy looked at him because she didn't know that was the reason for their visit. It made sense given that he had been trying so much harder the last few hours, but he never told her that. She suddenly felt terrible for telling him that she wanted to move out just before they left. This trip had been a last ditch effort to keep her, but not by guilting her or forcing her, but by changing himself.

Amy could feel the tears in her eyes again. This time she didn't bother leaving. It was all out in the open now, so there was no point in hiding anymore. Sheldon hated that he hurt her so much. He flexed his hand a few times before putting it on her shoulders. Part of Amy hated how much she was willing to just let him back into her heart, but she knew he never left it. She settled into his side and buried her face in his shoulder.

Sheldon was breathing hard, but he just tightened his arm around her. His mother and grandmother decided to leave the couple alone for a few minutes. Amy felt terrible that Sheldon was so scared. She tried to pull away.

"Please stay."

"Do you know how much it hurts that you don't want to be holding me right now? I love you, Sheldon. I don't want you to be uncomfortable or in pain. I feel selfish that I am enjoying this a little while you are so uncomfortable."

"Be selfish, Amy!" Sheldon shouted. "Pin me down and kiss my face. Make me be the man you want me to be! You used to do that all the time. Remember when you made me do all of those experiments to help my compulsion to finish things?"

"I understand neuroscience."

"You understand us too. I need your help," Sheldon said quietly.

Amy nodded and pressed her face back into Sheldon's shoulder. He so rarely yelled like that that she knew he was serious. Sheldon brought his other arm around to hold her even more tightly. They stayed like that for several minutes, but it was getting late.

"Are you ready for bed?" Sheldon asked Amy. She nodded against his shoulder. Even with the nap, the day had been emotionally exhausting.

"Do you want to sleep in my room? I know the bed is small, but we can if you want to give it a shot," Sheldon offered.

"No. I think I want some time alone. Maybe after we get back home," Amy told him.

"Does that mean you are going to stay?" Sheldon asked.

"You're working hard to fix us. I think I owe it to both of us to see that through for at least a little while. Goodnight, Sheldon."

Sheldon didn't think. He just kissed her softly on the lips. It killed him that Amy's tears returned, but at least she seemed to be letting him see how she felt again instead of hiding from him. Then Sheldon watched as Amy walked away to go to bed.

His mother and grandmother returned to the living room after Amy had gone to bed. Mary just put her hand on Sheldon's shoulder as she walked by. "Are things okay now?" Mary asked him as she handed him a cup of tea and went to sit down.

"No, but they are getting there. She agreed not to move back out after we get back home," Sheldon told his mother. Then after catching her look, he added, "She's been sleeping in Leonard's room."

"You two have slept in the same bed before. I could see it earlier, so don't try to trick me, Sheldon. You've never given me much trouble in that department, but I did raise your brother and sister."

Sheldon just nodded. He didn't want to get into it with his mother. He looked at his grandmother instead and she gave him a little smile. "I'm glad you brought your girl here to meet us, Moon Pie. She is something else," she told him.

"That she is, MeeMaw. I never doubted it, but I'm glad you approve. I have never met anyone like her," Sheldon said. Then he yawned and decided to go to bed. Part of him wanted to stay because they would surely discuss him as soon as he was gone, but he knew he would have to get up early for church the next morning.

Sheldon was right because as soon as Mary heard the door shut she turned to her mother and said, "If they can get past this, he's gonna marry that girl."

"Neither of them know that yet. I wouldn't rush them," MeeMaw said.

"I won't, but who would have thought that Shelly might be the first of my children to get married? I'm not going to say that he never had a chance, but if I were a gambling woman, I would not have put my money on it."

The next morning, Amy woke up a little confused. It was still dark in Missy's room, and it took Amy a few moments to remember that she was a couple thousand miles from home in her boyfriend's childhood home. It wasn't even six yet, so she tried to go back to sleep. Even with the two hour time difference, she couldn't fall back asleep.

Amy decided to get a glass of water, but she felt a little awkward in someone else's home. Tiptoeing to the kitchen, Amy was surprised to see that MeeMaw was already awake and sitting alone drinking tea.

"Good morning, dear," MeeMaw said.

"Good morning," Amy said, tiredly.

"You're up pretty early. It's about four at home, right?" MeeMaw said, checking her watch.

"Yeah. I haven't been sleeping very well," Amy admitted.

MeeMaw got up to start making Amy some tea. She wouldn't hear anything about Amy helping her, so Amy went to sit on the stool next to where MeeMaw had just gotten up. When MeeMaw handed her the mug of chamomile, Amy smiled in thanks.

"You know, you can sneak in to sleep with Moon Pie if you think it might help. My daughter means well, but I think she's always been a little tightly wound."

"Sheldon offered to let me sleep with him last night, but I'm not sure how much it would help. I've always loved sleeping next to him, but I'm still trying to adjust to him trying so hard. I feel guilty about it," Amy admitted.

"That boy needs a little tough love every now and again. You should never forget that, Amy. Go on. You've got an hour before you'll need to be up to go to church with us. My daughter isn't going to let you out of that one," MeeMaw said.

Amy thought about it and decided to give it a shot. She was pretty tired. If she did fall asleep, Sheldon would wake her up in time. She nodded and left MeeMaw alone in the kitchen and went to Sheldon's room.

She let her self into his room, and Sheldon was asleep right in the middle of the small bed. Amy shook him awake and he looked at her a little confused. "Shh. Just move over a little bit," Amy told him.

He did as he was told and Amy slid into bed with him. She put her arm across his chest and he put his hand on hers before he fell back asleep. When he properly awoke an hour later, he didn't remember Amy getting into bed with him, but he was holding her hand. She was asleep next to him, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. It was then that he realized he wasn't afraid. He could have stayed there forever, but his mother knocked on the door to wake him up.

Mary sighed and shook her head after seeing Sheldon and Amy in bed together, but she didn't say anything. She wanted them to be happy, and if that meant breaking a few rules in her house, she wouldn't fight too hard.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Who is excited about new episodes tomorrow? I am. I know this chapter is a little short, but I'm surprised I was able to get any written this week, so there's that. Love you guys. Maybe I'll write more while I'm avoiding spoilers on tumblr. **

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After watching his mother leave, Sheldon finally shook Amy awake. She looked at him and gave him a sleepy smile before curling into his side to go back to sleep.

"We have to get up for church, Amy. My mother might not yell at us for sleeping in the same bed, but she won't let us out of going to church," Sheldon told her quietly.

"Mmm. I know. Just give me fifteen more seconds," Amy mumbled. She breathed in Sheldon's scent and then sat up go shower and get dressed.

Sheldon went out to the kitchen and found his grandmother drinking tea and eating a light breakfast. "Amy found me in the middle of the night and climbed into bed with me and Mom isn't even mad. Did you have anything to do with that? I find it completely inconsistent with what I know about her," Sheldon asked his grandmother.

"Your mother just wants you to be happy, Moon Pie. I think she knows you well enough to know that you are just trying to work through this with your girl. Just don't let her catch you two making out or something," MeeMaw teased.

Amy appeared in the hall at that moment, so Sheldon couldn't respond to his grandmother's comment. Instead, he was caught by how beautiful she looked in her navy dress and white cardigan. It was a simple outfit, and much more subdued than something Amy would normally wear. He liked her style, but there was something nice about seeing her dressed like that. Suddenly his grandmother's comment didn't seem so out of line.

"You look nice, dear," MeeMaw said. Then she elbowed Sheldon.

"Yes. You look quite fetching today, Amy," Sheldon said before he took his turn in the bathroom.

Amy turned to MeeMaw. "I didn't go to church growing up, so I'm glad you think I look okay. I didn't know if it was appropriate."

"You look lovely, dear," Mary said appearing from somewhere in the back of the house. Amy flinched because she thought she might get in trouble for sneaking in with Sheldon, but Mary didn't say anything about that. Instead, she said, "You didn't go to church growing up? Sheldon didn't tell me that."

"My parents aren't religious. I think we went a couple of times on Christmas, but they even gave up on that by the time I was six or so," Amy explained.

Mary looked like she was about to ask another question, but stopped herself. Instead she smiled at Amy and offered her some breakfast while they waited for Sheldon to come back so that they could leave. Amy picked at the biscuit covered in gravy and sipped the tea that had been placed in front of her.

When Sheldon came back out he was wearing a button down shirt, a tie, and black pants. Amy thought he looked extra handsome. Sheldon sat down to have breakfast, but his mother told him that they didn't have the time.

"But, Mom, I'm hungry."

"You should have gotten ready faster. We need to leave in two minutes, so I don't have time to make you a plate."

Amy just pushed her plate at Sheldon. "I'm done with this if you want some." Amy didn't actually expect Sheldon to eat any of it, but he shrugged, took her fork, and started eating the mostly untouched biscuit on her plate. He was only able to finish about half of it before his mother was ushering them all out the door, but at least his stomach wouldn't be grumbling through the service.

"Thanks for sharing. Church is unbearable when hungry," Sheldon said when they were in the car.

Amy just shrugged, still surprised that Sheldon ate from her plate.

Amy was fascinated by the structure and the pageantry of the service, but Sheldon was just bored. He'd sat through a number of tedious services in this building in his life, and he remembered them all. He decided to do something interesting and maybe even a little bit scary. Sheldon grabbed Amy's hand from her lap and started tracing the lines of her palm with his thumb. It was interesting, but Sheldon was pleased to find that it wasn't nearly as scary as he thought it might be. He wished that he had pushed himself harder over the last few months. Maybe he would even be back where they were when he broke by now.

It was much harder for Amy to pay attention to the service with Sheldon playing with her left hand. His mother was on her other side, so Amy tried to look like she was very involved with what the preacher was saying. She wasn't getting a word of it.

When the service was over, Mary brought Amy forward to meet the pastor. Amy gripped Sheldon's hand and made him come along. He resisted, but she looked him in the eye and he finally relented.

"Pastor Keets, this is Sheldon's girlfriend, Amy. They've come to visit for the weekend, and obviously they couldn't miss your wonderful service," Mary said.

Amy felt like she was being shown off as some prize. It had been one thing to meet Sheldon's family, but now she was being toted about as if to show that Sheldon could have a normal relationship.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Amy," the pastor said. Then he turned to Sheldon. "It's been a long time, Sheldon."

Sheldon just nodded and squeezed Amy's hand. They stood off to the side while his mother was talking about how Sheldon didn't come home often enough and how Amy was a great gal and real smart just like her Shelly.

When she was finally done, the trio went to collect MeeMaw from where she was waiting and left to go to home. Mary promised Sheldon that she would make his favorite fried chicken for lunch before they left for their flight home. While Mary was cooking, MeeMaw spoke with Sheldon and Amy in the living room. Sheldon told his grandmother about his work and about how his friends were doing. Amy mostly sat and listened. Sheldon was so cute when he was enthusiastic. She liked noticing how cute Sheldon was again. It was easily the most amount of time they spent together in a while.

When Mary appeared to tell them that lunch was ready, Amy was ready to eat. The smells from the kitchen had been taunting her for over a half an hour. She wished that she had eaten more of her breakfast.

When they sat down, Sheldon and Mary grabbed each of her hands so that they could pray. Amy bowed her head with the rest of them, and was glad that she wasn't asked to speak.

"I don't think I've eaten this much in weeks," Amy said as she declined Mary's offer of thirds. "Your cooking is phenomenal, Mrs. Cooper."

"Thank you, dear. You two should visit more often. You both look like you could stand to eat a little more," Mary insisted.

Sheldon just shared a look with Amy. He was trying to get out of making any real commitments because they only had about an hour before they had to leave for the airport. He didn't want to promise that they would be back any time soon. He also hoped that they wouldn't need to be. Feeling a lot better about his relationship with Amy, Sheldon was ready to go home and see how things progressed from there.

Amy was almost scared to go home. The last twenty-four hours had given her so much hope that she knew it would kill her if Sheldon reverted to his no contact stance. Still, she couldn't run from her problems forever, so she handed Sheldon her bag and allowed him to pack it into the back of the rental car as she hugged first Mary and then MeeMaw goodbye. Then she watched as Sheldon did the same.

"Thanks for coming with me, Amy," Sheldon said when they were alone in the car.

Amy just nodded. The weekend had been stressful for both of them, but she hoped it had been worth it.


	7. Chapter 7

To say that Sheldon and Amy were tired upon arriving back at 2311 Los Robles was an understatement. They grabbed takeout on their way home that was nowhere near as good as Mary's cooking. They ate peaceably together, and it was neither as awkward as before they left nor as comfortable as it had been in Texas.

After dinner, Amy just went into her room to unpack and go to bed. She wasn't sure where she should be sleeping, but it felt awkward to bring it up. Sheldon thought Amy probably wanted space after the weekend away. He went into his own room to unpack. Among his clothes and things was a small box that he knew didn't belong. It was a ring box.

Sheldon opened the small box and it was a ring he knew well. It was the engagement ring that Pop Pop had given MeeMaw over fifty years before. He wondered how it had gotten into his bag, but then he noticed the note that had been lodged in the top of the box.

Sheldon pulled out the folded piece of paper and sat down on his bed to read it.

Dear Moon Pie,

This is the ring that your grandfather gave me the day he asked me to be his wife. I know that you and Amy aren't there yet, but that girl is special. I wanted you to have this in case you do get there. This isn't a shove in that direction, but rather a gentle push. Don't do anything that you aren't ready for, but don't pass things up because you are scared either. I love you, Sheldon, and I love that girl of yours. I'd love it if you ever do want to ask her to be your wife, that you do it with this ring. She seems like the kind of girl who would appreciate it.

Love,

MeeMaw

Sheldon sat there staring at the ring in his left hand and at the note from his grandmother in his right. He didn't know what to think of any of it. Two days before, Amy was going to leave him, and now here he was holding an engagement ring for her. The last time Sheldon thought about marriage between himself and Amy was before Leonard had even left, and even then, it hadn't been a very serious thought. Yet, Sheldon thought about how he was going to try harder to show Amy how much he cared. Marriage wasn't the answer... yet, but it might be someday. Maybe not even in the distant future. First, he had to get them back to where they were before.

Sheldon stood up and put the ring and note in the back of a drawer. Then he put on his pajamas and left his room. His knock on Amy's door was quiet, but she heard him anyway. She wasn't asleep yet, but her glasses were off and she was in bed. Still, she invited him in.

"Can I sleep in here?" Sheldon asked as he poked his head in her door. She could hear the uncertainty in his voice. He was leaving it up to her.

"Um. Yeah," Amy said as she scooted over to her side of the bed. Sheldon walked over and pulled the covers up before climbing in next to Amy. "Would you rather we go sleep in your bed," Amy asked once he was settled.

Sheldon shrugged. "Maybe tomorrow. My room is a little smaller, but I like the way it's laid out better. We'll need to decide which room we want to keep."

"Does that mean that you want to start sleeping in the same bed all the time again?"

"Yes. I wasn't lying when I told you that I was going to try harder. I also have seen that my priorities need to be sorted out, and nothing I can think of terrifies me as much as the thought of losing you forever."

Amy could only see Sheldon's silhouette in the dim light coming from her window, but she was filled with the urge to kiss him anyway. She placed her hand on the side of his face and pressed her lips to his. It wasn't soft like Sheldon's kiss in Texas, but rather fierce and hungry. They were both moving their lips like those months had never happened. Amy felt a shock when Sheldon's tongue pressed against hers, but they didn't slow for several minutes.

Sheldon finally pulled away from Amy. "Maybe this was a bad idea. We have to go to work in the morning."

Amy disagreed, but she didn't try to kiss Sheldon again. Instead, she lay next to him listening to their fast breathing and even faster heart beats. It was the greatest sound in the world to her. It sounded like home to her.

Sheldon was gone when Amy woke up, but she could hear the shower running. He usually woke up before she did, but Amy was surprised when she looked over to see that she had slept in for over a half an hour beyond her normal wake up time. It seemed like Sheldon must have too because he should be nearly out the door instead of still in the shower.

In fact, she heard a knocking at the door that was probably Leonard. She found her robe and went out the living room and opened the door.

"I'm sorry. We got back from Texas last night and must have both been really tired and slept in. Would have been nice of Sheldon to wake me up when he got up instead of just leaving me there to sleep," Amy told Leonard before he could even ask.

Leonard tilted his head in confusion. He didn't know if it was his place to ask, but he did anyway, "You guys are sleeping in the same bed again?"

Amy put her mouth over her mouth. When she was stressed out, she sometimes had a bad habit of letting things slip. She and Sheldon hadn't discussed how much they should tell their friends, but apparently Leonard was going to know now.

"Don't tell anyone until I can talk to Sheldon about it. He was embarrassed enough about our problems that I don't know how he'll react to our trying to fix things," Amy said quietly since the shower had stopped running.

Leonard just gave her a lopsided smile. "I'm just glad you guys are trying to work things out."

"Thanks. If you need to go, you can. I can drive him to work. I'll be late anyway, there's no point in all of us being late to work," Amy told him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It'll be fine," Amy assured him, so he just shrugged and walked down the stairs.

Amy went to go get ready for the day. She jumped in shower the second Sheldon came out. She told him to go eat his breakfast since she would be driving him to work. He didn't get a chance to question her about it before she was locked in the bathroom.

It was Monday, so Sheldon set about making two bowls of oatmeal. He started eating his when Amy reappeared with wet hair and no sweater. She went to grab a breakfast bar before they left, but Sheldon stopped her.

"We're going to be late as it is. You can sit down and have a real breakfast. I'll write you a note if you want," Sheldon said.

Amy smiled at Sheldon and sat down to eat the breakfast he made her.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I know that this story is OOC, but I'm hoping that it still feels like I'm writing about Sheldon and Amy to some degree. I'm pretty far from where this journey started, so there has been some change in the characters. Thanks for reading. I hope you guys are still enjoying it. That's the point.**

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"I'll probably be late again tonight," Amy told Sheldon when she dropped him off. He looked hurt because he thought she was trying like he was. "I don't want to be, but we are in the middle of some big strides. I'll try to be home as early as I can. And we'll sleep in your room tonight," she added trying to reassure him.

Sheldon nodded, and Amy didn't know how to read it. She said, "I love you. Thanks for taking me to meet your family," as he got out of her car.

"I love you, too. I'm glad you got to meet MeeMaw," Sheldon said. The mention of his grandmother reminded him of the ring hidden in his dresser. He swallowed hard and closed the door to Amy's car. Then he stood on the sidewalk watching as Amy drove away.

Sheldon worked quietly and was startled when Leonard knocked on his door at lunch time. He got up and they walked to the cafeteria together. Sheldon wanted to ask Leonard's advice about Amy, but given that the guys would probably show up any minute, it might be better to wait for the drive home.

The subject wouldn't leave his mind, so Sheldon picked at his lunch while the other guys talked and joked. Eventually, Leonard noticed that Sheldon was being unusually quiet.

"What, no factoids about things we don't care about?" Leonard asked. Then he remembered that morning and knew this had to do with Amy. He changed topics, "How was your trip home? Are you happy that Amy finally met your grandmother?"

"Yes. It was fine. MeeMaw loved Amy and Amy loved MeeMaw, but considering they are the two most remarkable women I know, it wasn't much of a surprise," Sheldon said.

Leonard asked a few more questions, but Sheldon was being dodgy, so he gave up on it and went back to talking to Raj about a meteor shower the next week. Sheldon was relieved that the questioning was over.

Sheldon went back to work and waited for Leonard to collect him to go home. Once they were in the car, he skipped the games that they might have played. "Leonard, when did you know that you wanted to marry Penny?"

"Are you? Are you thinking about asking Amy to marry you? Isn't it a little soon?" Leonard asked.

"I didn't say that. A friend of mine was having problems with his girlfriend, and then things started getting a little better, and his grandmother gave him a ring to propose with at some point in the future. I'm asking for him," Sheldon said nervously.

"Your grandmother gave you a ring for Amy?" Leonard asked surprised.

Sheldon sighed and gave up his ruse. "Yes. For the future. She was very clear that I was only to use it when I was ready, but I'm not sure how I will know."

"You'll know. I realized that I didn't want to live without Penny, but she wasn't there yet. I let her decide when she was ready because I already was."

"I already feel that way about Amy. That's why I asked her to move in. Is there another signal to show when one is ready?"

"Maybe you two should just give it some time. You are just getting comfortable with each other again. Give it a few weeks or months before you really think about it again," Leonard told his friend.

Sheldon thought that Leonard's advice got him exactly nowhere, but he could use the time. Maybe a few weeks was exactly what he needed.

Amy worked through lunch so that she wouldn't have to stay so late, but it was still seven before she got out of work. She was tired and hungry and angry that the elevator still didn't work. Amy opened the door to 4A and threw her bag on the couch, and sat down next to Sheldon.

He gave her a big smile and kissed her temple lightly before jumping up from the couch. Amy was upset that he was jumping up from her again until she realized he had kissed her first. That wasn't the move of a man who was afraid to touch her. She closed her eyes, but opened them when a cup of tea was being pressed into her hands.

"You need a hot beverage," Sheldon said. "Do you want some dinner too?"

"In a minute. Will you just sit here with me for a little bit?" Amy was almost afraid to ask, but she just wanted his company.

He nodded and sat next to her in his spot. Amy sipped her tea, still too afraid to reach over and touch him. She mourned the time that she was confident with him, but she had been hurt too much. Amy was pleased when Sheldon's hand crept over and sat on her knee.

"Did you eat yet?" Amy asked after a moment.

"No. I was waiting for you. There is Thai food in the refrigerator. Would you like me to heat it up?"

"Yes, please," Amy said. Then she leaned into him and placed a feather light kiss on his lips.

He smirked and got up from the couch to get them their dinner. He was happy that she was helping him. It was the second time she had kissed him in less than a day. He thought about how he was going to have start matching her while he watched the food warm up in the microwave.

He brought over the food, but returned her kiss before he handed her the plate. Then they ate together. Amy was really tired and just wanted to go to bed. In the past months, this wouldn't have been a problem, but she was suddenly unsure if she should wait for Sheldon.

"Are we sleeping in your room, then? I think I need to go to bed," she finally said when she realized that she was about to fall asleep on the couch.

"Uh. Yeah," Sheldon said.

"Okay. I'm going to go to bed," Amy said.

She went into her room to change and the went into Sheldon's room and climbed into his bed. She felt nervous because the last time she slept there she had gone to bed and woken alone before not sleeping with him again for months. Despite how tired she was, this made it a little hard to fall asleep. She was drifting in and out of a fitful sleep when the bed dipped on the other side as someone slipped into it. A familiar hand rested on her hip and she felt a kiss pressed to her shoulder before she fell asleep again. This time it was deep and restful and she didn't wake again until morning.


	9. Chapter 9

Sheldon was still in bed when Amy woke. She felt well rested and happy. She also felt a whole lot of hope for the first time in a while. It had taken some time, but Amy truly believed that Sheldon was fixing their relationship. Or that they were fixing it together.

Amy slipped out of bed to get ready for work, so it was Sheldon's turn to wake up alone. For a moment, he was worried it was just a dream that she had slept in his bed. Then it was clear that someone else had been there, so he smiled to himself.

Sheldon closed his eyes and stayed lying on his bed. He decided to take the time alone to reorganize his thoughts and feelings. He realized that he hadn't even been nervous when he had gotten into bed with Amy the previous night. Sheldon was mad that he had let his anxiety stop him for so long because once he started pushing himself, it wasn't nearly as hard as it should have been. Then again, none of this was new. It was like the proverbial bicycle. He just had to pick it up and start again, but none of it was forgotten.

Amy was surprised when Sheldon was still in bed asleep when she walked past his room to go into her own. She walked in and bent down to shake him when his eyes popped open and she jumped back a little.

"I thought you were still sleeping," she explained hastily.

"I was just thinking. Sometimes it's easier if I can block out other stimuli," Sheldon explained.

"Well, Leonard is going to be here soon, so you might want to start getting ready. That is unless you want me to drive you again," Amy said.

"No. I'll hurry, but I was wondering if you would mind if I brought you lunch today. I won't stay long, but I thought we could have lunch together like the old days," Sheldon said.

"I'd like that. I skipped lunch yesterday so I could get home to you, but I wouldn't have to do that if you come see me," Amy said with a smile. "But how are you going to get to UCLA?"

"Leonard or the bus," Sheldon said with a shrug. Then he looked concerned as he said, "Please don't skip lunch for me ever again."

Amy was touched that he said that because Sheldon wasn't known for being selfless. She watched as he gathered some of his things and left the room. Then she went to go make them a quick breakfast before setting off to work.

* * *

Just as he promised, Sheldon showed up at her lab right at noon with a bag of food big enough for the two of them. It was two sandwiches, two cups of soup, and the thing that surprised Amy the most was an apple cobbler for them to share. He also greeted Amy with a kiss, and a giggle escaped her lips.

Sheldon rolled his eyes, but smiled a little bit too as he put out the food. They ate together quietly in the lab. Twice, someone came in to ask Amy a question before backing out of the lab, apologizing. Amy thought that was strange because it never used to bother anyone if she was having lunch with Sheldon in her lab. They were sitting closer than they used to, but they weren't touching or doing anything inappropriate. They were barely even talking. Mostly they were enjoying the quiet time together and looking at each other in the eyes.

At 12:30 Sheldon checked his watch. "I suppose I should let you get back to work. Thank you for letting me come by today. I've missed this. Now, I would kiss you, but neither of us have brushed our teeth. May I propose a hug instead?"

Amy smiled. "I'd like that." They stood and Sheldon wrapped his long arms around Amy's shoulders while she squeezed his middle. She held the hug a little too long, but it still felt like it wasn't long enough.

Then he packed all of the trash back up and walked out of her lab. A few moments later, one of the lab techs came in to ask the question she came in for earlier. "Sorry about that. You were obviously having a romantic lunch with your boyfriend," she said with a wink.

"Why do you say that?" Amy asked.

"If that wasn't your boyfriend, he should be. He is clearly in love with you. It looked like you are in love with him too," the tech said.

"Oh, he is my boyfriend. I was just wondering what led you to that conclusion because you seemed to come to it very quickly without us actually even in physical contact with each other."

"I guess I've always been good at reading people, but you guys were pretty obvious. It doesn't take a genius of your level to see two people staring at each other like that and see that there is something real there. Anyway, I had a question about this procedure sheet," the tech started.

Amy answered her questions before going back to work, but Sheldon crept into her thoughts every so often during the course of the day.

It was late when Amy got home again, but it was easier to take since Sheldon had come to see her. She wasn't even sure if he would be home from the Cheesecake Factory when she got in. He was, and he had even brought her back her usual order.

"Hopefully, you'll be able to join us next week. Everyone seemed disappointed that you weren't there," Sheldon said.

"Thanks, Sheldon," Amy said giving him an impromptu hug. He put his hand on her back to return the hug. Then he pushed her food at her and went to change for bed. They were supposed to be alternating between the two rooms until they decided which one they wanted to sleep in permanently. Amy didn't mind which one they slept in, as long as they slept together.

"Let's sleep in your room again," Amy said when Sheldon came back out. "It makes me happy to get to sleep there again. I mean, as long as you are there with me. I don't want to sleep there alone again."

"You won't have to," Sheldon said.

* * *

By the end of the week, they were both completely comfortable sleeping in Sheldon's bed again. Friday morning, Amy woke up with Sheldon wrapped around her. He'd been slowly coming back to her. They weren't really kissing beyond a peck here or there, but he could put his arms around her again and that wasn't nothing.

Amy thought about waking him up. She knew from experience that he wouldn't let her go unless he was awake. If she moved, he would just pull her in tighter. Still, she couldn't bring herself to wake him. They could stay in bed all day and she wouldn't wake him to release her. She'd missed this. She'd craved it. Even if she didn't realize exactly how fully until that moment.

About fifteen minutes later, Amy knew Sheldon was starting to wake up because he snuggled into her a little and then she watched as his eyes fluttered open. He smiled sleepily and hugged her tighter before finally releasing her.

Amy still lay there staring at Sheldon for a few moments more. She wished him a good morning and he did the same, but neither of them got out of bed.

"Should we just stay here all day?" Amy asked.

"No. We have to go to work. If you get behind again, you'll have to stay late again next week. Plus we have to go to dinner at Wolowitz's."

"I'm finally caught up enough at work that I don't have to stay late, and I can't even spend the night with you. I miss our friends, but I finally feel like we are getting back to something I recognize," Amy said.

"Tomorrow," Sheldon promised.

* * *

Amy came to pick Sheldon up from work to take him to Howard and Bernadette's new house. It was next door to Howard's mother, but Amy thought it was a big win for Bernie just to not to have to live with Mrs. Wolowitz. Ever since the couple had decided to try to start a family, Howard had wanted to move into an actual house instead of a larger apartment.

"Do we need to buy them something?" Sheldon asked when they were on the way.

"I stopped and bought a bottle of wine and a dessert. I don't think it's a real housewarming party, so I hope that it's enough," Amy told him. They were both not knowledgeable enough on social convention to know the exact protocol, but hoped they were close enough to the mark that they could get a pass.

Amy parked in front of the house and Sheldon grabbed the things out of the backseat. The group didn't get to hang out together as much as they used to. Amy almost missed having everyone at 4A every night for bad take out and video games she didn't play. Sheldon knocked three times and called for the Wolowitz's before putting his arm around Amy's waist while they waited for someone to answer the door.

"Howie! People are starting to get here! Get the door!" Bernadette yelled from inside the house.

"I'm already on my way!" Howard yelled back.

Howard opened the door and ushered them in. He explained that Sheldon and Amy were the first ones there as Sheldon handed over the items that they had brought. Sheldon didn't like gift giving, so he wanted rid of the stuff in his hands as soon as he could.

Howard gave them a short tour of the new house before leading them to the kitchen to say hi to Bernadette while she finished up dinner. Amy offered to stay and help, but Bernie sent her to the living room with the guys. She was nearly done making dinner anyway.

The doorbell rang and Howard went to let Raj in. Before they could all sit down, Leonard and Penny had arrived.

Howard went to show the house to the newcomers, but Amy and Sheldon decided to stay in the living room. Amy went to go sit down next to Sheldon, but he pulled her onto his lap instead. Then he wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear that he loved her. Then they just looked into each other's eyes for a moment. That was how they were when everyone came back into the living room.

Everyone stood stock still and stared at them. Sheldon even heard Penny gasp. He wondered what was wrong, so he moved his head to look past Amy at the group.

"Is dinner ready?" he asked.

"Not quite yet," Howard answered first. The group looked at each other and then just moved to sit down in the living room. Amy decided to stay on Sheldon's lap because there wasn't enough room for everyone to sit down otherwise. She also liked having the excuse to stay there.

"So, how is work going?" Penny asked Amy.

"Stressful, but I'm finally going to be able to start coming home at a normal hour again," Amy told her.

"So, you'll be able to join us for dinner on Tuesday and girls' nights again?" Penny asked.

"Hopefully. If Sheldon is willing to let me go," Amy said, sweetly.

Bernadette came out of the kitchen to let everyone know that dinner was ready, so she and Howard led the group to the dining room. Sheldon heard the others whispering. He turned around and said, "I love her. I can touch her if I like."

"We're just not used to it," Penny said. "It's cute to see you two all lovey dovey together."

"We are not 'lovey dovey,'" Sheldon said stiffly.

"Sweetie, you two are the definition of lovey dovey. We've never seen this side of either of you, but that doesn't mean we don't like it. You're just mad because it's proof that Sheldon Cooper is a human being."

"Maybe it's just proof that Amy is more than human," Sheldon countered.

"Whatever. I'm just glad that you both seem happy," Leonard said before he pushed Penny toward the table. He didn't want to sit through an argument about Sheldon's love life. The whole thing creeped him out even though he was happy for his best friend.

Bernadette and Howard brought out the food. Sheldon didn't know if he trusted the food, but decided to not make a scene. He made up a plate for Amy before getting food for himself. Amy loved when he did that. For a man without a lot of social graces, he could be incredibly sweet.

They talked about Penny's audition for a soap opera job, and how she and Leonard were getting used to being married. They talked about Raj's new girlfriend who was too busy with her job to meet them, but promised to come by the next time they were gathering. They talked about whether or not Wolowitz was serious about going back to school to finally get his doctorate. Amy had really missed her friends, but she as also glad that they had stopped bringing attention to her and Sheldon's relationship. She didn't want anymore pressure from them no matter how well meaning they were.

"That was a lot of fun, but I can't wait to go to bed," Amy said when they were in the car alone together.

"Me neither," Sheldon said.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning, Amy woke up after spending nearly an entire week in Sheldon's bed. She and Sheldon had both been awake for over a half an hour, but neither of them felt like getting up just yet. She was feeling a little brave, so she asked, "Since it seems that we have chosen your room to sleep in permanently, would you mind if I moved some of my things back in here?"

"That's fine," Sheldon said.

Amy got out of bed and went into her room to collect some of her clothes and things to bring back. When she returned, Sheldon was still in bed. She was annoyed because he wasn't making space for her things.

"Where should I put these things?" Amy asked.

"Where they were before," Sheldon said as he gestured to the dresser and the closet. Amy opened the drawers where her things were before and they were empty.

"You never filled in your drawers again?" Amy asked turning to Sheldon.

He shook his head, wondering if he was somehow in trouble. Amy set the folded clothes down on the top of the dresser and got back into bed with him. She leaned over him and pressed her lips to his and kissed him with all of the force she could muster. She ran her hands down his neck to his chest. Sheldon was still for a moment until he got over the shock of Amy's attack, and then he started kissing her back. He wasn't sure how a few empty drawers motivated her, but he had had trouble initiating such a kissing session, so he was happy to go along with it. Her kisses were like waves coming on and then retreating only to become fierce again.

When Amy did stop kissing Sheldon, he kept his arms wrapped around her and pulled her closer to his chest. "What did I do to deserve that?" Sheldon asked.

"You kept my place. You knew I would be back," Amy said trying to hold back her tears. If she started crying, Sheldon would just become concerned.

"You weren't ever really gone. You were just in the next room. Plus, it felt like it would be the final step to giving up on us to put my things back in those drawers," Sheldon said, but he couldn't meet her eyes. Talking about their relationship had never been easy for him. They always had to communicate directly because neither of them were good at playing games or dropping hints, but that didn't mean he was able to do it easily.

"Aren't you going to put those things away?" Sheldon asked after a few more moments.

Amy laughed and got out of the bed to put her clothes away. It took a few trips, but soon enough, Sheldon's drawers and closet were full again. Then, even though he knew they still needed more time, Sheldon's mind went to that little box hidden behind his t-shirts. His thoughts went there a lot. Usually that meant that his thoughts went to trying to decode if he was ready for marriage and all that came with it. That time, they just went to how happy he was that he was actually managing to mend things with Amy.

* * *

"Penny's father is coming for a visit. We're trying to decide if we can afford to put him up in a hotel or if we are going to make him sleep on the couch. Or if I'll have to sleep on the floor while Penny sleeps on the couch," Leonard was saying the next week while driving Sheldon to work.

"Huh? I wasn't listening," Sheldon said. He didn't usually care much about Leonard's problems with Penny.

"We are trying to figure out where to put Penny's dad when he comes to visit," Leonard said again.

"Are you trying to ask if you can use our guest room? You know you need to put that kind of thing in writing and then I need to discuss it with Amy," Sheldon said, annoyed. Leonard was much more flippant about the Friendship Agreement than he ever had been about the Roommate Agreement, and he wasn't the most strict about that one. Still, Sheldon had met Penny's father a few times, and he knew that the man was much more responsible and considerate than his daughter. It wouldn't really bother him much to have him as a house guest.

"Your guest room? Do you mean Amy's room? I'm not kicking her out of her room for my father-in-law," Leonard said. He knew that Sheldon and Amy were fixing things, but he was surprised by the idea that they were living in the the same room again.

Sheldon sighed. "You won't be kicking anyone out of anywhere, but you still need to submit your request in writing and I need to discuss it with Amy."

"Well, thank you, Sheldon," Leonard said.

"Don't thank me yet. Amy may very well say no, and as you know, as her boyfriend, I'm obligated to side with her."

"You love her," Leonard said teasingly.

"Well, there is that," Sheldon admitted.

Penny mentioned the same problem of having to house her father for several days to Amy when they happened to arrive home at the same time that night.

"Do you know if there is a hotel around here that isn't gross, but isn't expensive either? I really don't want my dad sleeping on my couch when he comes to visit," Penny asked as they walked up the stairs together.

"You can use our guest room," Amy suggested. "Oh, maybe I should ask Sheldon about that first. He probably wouldn't want me offering to let guests just stay in our apartment. Or maybe you and Leonard could stay at ours and your dad could sleep in your apartment. It would be like the old days," Amy said, excitedly.

Penny just stopped walking and turned to her friend. "Wait. Wait just a second. Guest room? Does that mean that you and Sheldon are sleeping in the same room again? When did that happen? You have to tell me everything!"

"I figured you would assume that we were doing better after you all caught me sitting on his lap last week," Amy started.

"Better, yes, but it took months of you spending weekends together and your apartment getting broken into before he asked you to move in," Penny started.

"I never moved out. It was just a hiccup. It's been a lot better since we went to Texas. That trip helped us remember how much we love each other," Amy said. This was just as they reached the fourth floor, so Amy just sort of waved at Penny and told her that she would talk to Sheldon about arrangements before going into her apartment.

Sheldon was already there even though Amy wasn't very late coming home from work. She greeted him with a kiss and tried to figure out how to bring up Penny's dad and how to explain that she had probably told Penny too much about their sleeping arrangements.

"Leonard knows that we are sleeping in the same bed again, so expect to hear from Penny soon. Also, we may have Penny's father as a house guest for a few days next week unless you have a problem with it," Sheldon said before she could come up with a way to say anything. Sometimes it was nice that their best friends were married. Especially when Amy realized that Sheldon had the same tendency to let things slip that she did.


	11. Chapter 11

"No, Amy, you do need to vacuum again. I'm washing the sheets and then I'm going to do the dishes," Sheldon said into his phone Saturday afternoon from the basement of the building. "I know we don't usually vacuum twice a day, but Penny's father is going to arrive in a couple of hours. The apartment needs to be clean when he gets here." He stood listening to his girlfriend rant for a moment, but she finally agreed to do as he asked. There was a small part of him that enjoyed it. Amy had been so shut off from him when they weren't doing well that he almost relished her honesty. Almost. He wasn't a fool. He didn't like getting yelled at.

When he came back up, the dishes in the sink were gone and the floor was vacuumed. Amy was sitting on the couch and she jumped up and helped him with the laundry basket he held. "I'm not sure we can ever have your mother come visit if you are this worried about Penny's dad," she said.

"My mother cleans and cooks every time she comes for a visit. I've largely given up on trying to impress her. Of course, every time she has come for a visit before, I've been a bachelor," Sheldon said.

"I think you still are," Amy said with a smirk. "You haven't made an honest woman out of me yet."

Amy mistook Sheldon's nervous facial expression and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that we need to be married. I love you and I love how happy we are right now," she said quickly.

Sheldon didn't know what to say to that. He just nodded and took the basket into the guest room and made the bed. When he was done, he stayed alone in the room until he heard a knocking at the front door. He went out and stood behind Amy as she answered it. It was Penny and her dad.

"Dad, these are my friends Amy and Sheldon. You met them at the wedding, and they've been kind enough to offer use of their guest room during your stay. That way you can be just across the hall and no one has to sleep on a couch," Penny said.

"Hello, sir. Let me show you the way. I'm sure you are tired after all of your travel," Amy said.

"Dad, we're all going to dinner in an hour and a half," Penny told her father as he followed Amy into the back.

"I really can't thank you enough for this, Sheldon," Penny said. "I couldn't believe that you agreed when Amy suggested it."

"Amy? Leonard was the one to ask me if your dad could stay here," Sheldon said.

"Oh, well, I must have gotten confused," Penny said before quickly walking away.

When Amy came back out, Sheldon was staring out into the hall. "Is everything okay?"

"Did you trick me into letting Penny's dad stay here? Penny said you suggested it, but you acted like you didn't know anything about it when I brought it up. I'm not okay with you tricking me into things like that," Sheldon said angrily. It was the first time he had been mad at her in a very long time.

"I didn't trick you. I knew that Penny's dad was coming before you said anything, but I only found out about ten minutes before. You had already had it planned with Leonard before I even knew. I'm sorry that I let you think I didn't know anything about it, but it wasn't about tricking you. I just didn't know how to bring it up."

"So this wasn't a plan to pull something past me? I don't want to start a life with you based on lies even if they aren't a big deal. We can't live like that," Sheldon said seriously.

"I promise that there was no scheme," Amy said sincerely.

Sheldon softened and put his arm around her. He didn't know what they should do if Penny's father was trying to take a nap. He wanted to be quiet and respectful. He decided to make himself a cup of tea and read some of his comic books. Amy went out to run a few errands. With the extra cleaning, she hadn't had a chance to run by the library and the dry cleaners.

When she came back, Sheldon was in his spot, and she sat next to him and put her head on his shoulder. She wasn't sure if she was testing him still or if she just enjoyed the fact that she could touch him without him complaining or getting up.

He put down his comic book and turned toward her. She sat up assuming that he was going to give her some lecture about not interrupting his comic book time or something, but instead he put his on her cheek and placed a soft kiss on her lips. They just traded sweet, gentle kisses for a moment until they heard a throat clearing from behind Sheldon.

"Sorry, kids," Penny's dad said when they looked over at him.

"Sorry, sir," Amy said quickly. She was embarrassed that Penny's father had caught them kissing.

He laughed, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure I would have walked in on much worse across the hall. Also, call me Wyatt."

"Would you like something to drink, Wyatt?" Sheldon asked, standing up. He had forgotten to offer Penny's father something earlier because he had been distracted.

"I'll take a beer," Wyatt said. Since Raj could speak to women without alcohol, they didn't typically keep beer on hand in their apartment, but Penny had brought over some of her dad's favorite kind. Sheldon appreciated it because he never would have thought to buy beer, and he would have felt like a bad host without it.

Sheldon nodded, pulled a bottle from the fridge, opened it and brought it over. "Amy, do you want anything?" Sheldon asked.

"I'll have whatever tea you were drinking. It was good," Amy said.

Sheldon nodded, and the stopped to look at her. She hadn't had any of it because it was brand new, so he wondered how she knew what it tasted like. She watched as he realized what she meant and his tongue darted out to taste his own lips. He gave her a faint smile and she winked at him.

He brought over her tea, exactly how he had made his own. She sipped it and smiled. It was sweeter than she would normally drink her tea, but Sheldon's lips had tasted incredible. Amy wished that she could keep kissing him, but she knew it would be disrespectful in front of Penny's dad.

They made small talk for a few minutes, but then Penny and Leonard came to collect them all for dinner.

* * *

Amy had had a little too much to drink during dinner, so she went to bed as soon as they got home. She wasn't really drunk, but just sleepy. Penny and Leonard came over and they all spent time hanging out with Penny's dad. They played some sports video games and chatted for a while. Then, Penny and Leonard went home to go to bed.

"Sir, can I ask you a question?" Sheldon said when he was alone with Penny's father.

"Of course, son," Wyatt said.

"My dad died a few years ago, so I thought I could use your presence to gain some 'fatherly advice,'" Sheldon started. "I've recently been contemplating proposing marriage to Amy, and I'm supposed to 'just know' when to do that. I don't know how I'm supposed to know, so I was wondering if you had any advice," Sheldon said.

"How long have you and Amy been together?" Wyatt asked.

"Four years," Sheldon said.

"And I'm assuming you love her?"

Sheldon nodded.

"Well, I don't know what kind of advice you are getting, but I only knew Penny's mother for three months before I asked her to marry me. I was terrified by it, but I knew I loved her and I knew that she made me happy. Four years, three months, a week. Love is love, and if you think you want marry that lovely young woman sleeping in your bed, I suggest you do it. Life is a lot shorter than you can believe at your age," Wyatt said before slapping Sheldon's shoulder and going to bed to leave him alone to think.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I would like to thank inwhatuniverse and LizzybethlovesShamy for their advice on this chapter. I'd also really like to thank you for still reading this. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Amy woke up a couple of hours later and Sheldon wasn't there. It was a little after eleven, and she was worried. She still didn't like being in bed alone, so she got out of bed, pulled on her robe, and went out the living room. Sheldon was sitting out there alone. He was awake, but he wasn't reading or watching TV.

"Is everything okay?" Amy asked. Sheldon startled and looked up at her.

"Yeah. I think it's perfect," he said.

"Are you sure? It's after eleven and you are still up? Are you going to have trouble sleeping with me again?" Amy asked. His tone was strange, and she was becoming increasingly worried.

"No," Sheldon said before getting up and wrapping his arms around her. "I just got lost in a train of thought. Let's go to bed."

He walked her into the room and pulled his pajamas out of his drawer, and left to change. Amy stood alone in the room until he came back. When he did, he pulled her in for another hug and he kissed her forehead before climbing into the bed. Amy got back in and curled herself into his chest. She breathed in his scent and it calmed her. Sheldon put his arm around Amy and watched as she fell asleep.

* * *

Wyatt was a great house guest. He was quiet and clean, and there were times that Amy and Sheldon nearly forgot that he was there. He spent most of his time out with Penny and Leonard, but when he was in their home, he kept to himself for the most part. He was scheduled to leave Monday afternoon, so they left him a key before they went to work. Leonard was taking the day off, so Amy was going to drive Sheldon to and from work.

"Thank you for letting me stay here. It was nice to be so close to Penny and Leonard," he told them as they were leaving. Then he turned to Sheldon. "Good luck," Wyatt told Sheldon with a wink.

Sheldon and Amy left together. "What was that about?" Amy asked.

"He just had some advice about an interpersonal problem that I was having, but I think it will be resolved soon," Sheldon said.

"With whom? Why haven't I heard about it?" Amy asked. "Is it about me?"

"Um. No. It's, um, Kripke. You know us, always bickering about something," Sheldon said.

"You're lying to me. You just told me the other day that you didn't want lies between us," Amy accused.

"I did. It's about you, but I can't tell you just yet. I promise that it isn't bad. I'm not trying to create distance between us again. I just need a couple more weeks before I can talk to you about it."

Amy didn't know what to say. She was scared that he was seeking out advice about her, but she trusted him and he said it wasn't bad. "I trust you, Sheldon. If you say that it isn't bad, then I'll let you have your time. I'm a little sad that you don't feel like you can talk to me, but I trust you," she finally told him.

"Thank you. I love you," Sheldon said as he took her hand. He was trying to show her that he wasn't afraid to touch her.

"I love you, too." Amy said squeezing his hand.

* * *

Over the next couple weeks, Amy tried to forget about Sheldon's secret. He didn't act any different, so she almost felt like she had imagined the whole conversation. After that first day, she stopped being worried that it was something bad. Still, it wouldn't leave her mind.

It wouldn't leave Sheldon's mind either. He was in Leonard's car on the way to work one day when he decided to break the news to his best friend. "I've decided to ask Amy to marry me," Sheldon said.

"Wow. That's a big step," Leonard said. There was a time that he would have been shocked by such an admission, but he had seen this coming for a while.

"Yes it is. As you know, I've been thinking about it for a couple months. Sunday marks five years since I've met Amy. I think that would be the best day to do it."

"Okay. Is there anything I can do to help?" Leonard asked.

"Other than making sure Penny doesn't ruin the surprise, no," Sheldon replied. Still, Sheldon told Leonard his plan and was happy to hear that his friend approved.

Sunday came sooner that Sheldon could believe. He retrieved that little box from his dresser that seemed to occupy all of his thoughts these days. Amy was sitting on the couch reading a book when Sheldon decided to put his plan into motion. "Do you know what today is?" he asked suddenly.

"Um. Today is Sunday," Amy said, confused by Sheldon's question.

He smiled. "I thought women were supposed to remember these kinds of things more than men."

"I supposed that's true if their boyfriends don't have an eidetic memory. What is today?" Amy said as she put her book down and looked up at him.

"Today is five years to the day since we first met. I was thinking we could go back to that coffee shop. Maybe have a cup of tea together. It's an anniversary of sorts, and I think we should celebrate it," Sheldon informed her.

"Oh. Okay. That sounds lovely," Amy said. She slipped into the back to get ready.

Sheldon felt for the ring box in his pocket. He kept making sure it was still there, but he realized that he would have to stop or Amy would notice that something was off. When she came back out, he took her hand until they were in the car. It helped him not check his pocket, but he still slipped his hand in to check once more as he climbed into the passenger seat of her car.

He was starting to feel nervous as they went inside. He bought them each a cup of tea and they went to the table they sat at that first day. He eyed the table Howard and Raj had been at while they begged him to leave with them, but the woman across from him had been too fascinating to leave. Finally, he acquired her phone number and left the shop, but he never managed to leave her behind.

Amy thought Sheldon looked a little off, and she thought back to the secret he had been keeping from her. She still didn't know what he was doing, but maybe he was finally ready to reveal it to her. She wondered what it could be.

"Amy Farrah Fowler, I believe I would like to alter the paradigm of our relationship," Sheldon started.

Amy knew she had heard these words from him before. It was years before, but she remembered them nonetheless. She knew what she said when he first spoke those words, so she smiled and said, "I'm listening." She didn't know what he was up to, but she wanted to play along.

"With the understanding that a few things may change physical or otherwise, I would not object to us no longer characterizing you as not my wife," Sheldon said with a smile.

"Interesting. Now try it without the quadruple negative," Amy said back to him with tears glistening in her eyes. She was shocked that he was proposing to her, but she kept up with the game. It was so sweet.

"You're being impossible," Sheldon said. There was no Stuart, so Sheldon pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, laid out out on the floor of the coffee shop, knelt and said, "Fine. Amy Farrah Fowler, will you marry me?" as he pulled the ring box from his pocket and presented it to her.

This is where Amy broke the script that she didn't know she was supposed to have memorized. "Of course, Sheldon Lee Cooper. Of course I'll marry you."

They both stood and Sheldon put the ring on Amy's finger. They were both shaking a little bit, and he pulled her in for a hug and a kiss despite the public setting. The few people in the coffee shop were cheering.


	13. Chapter 13

The couple left after the proposal. They both felt a little awkward with the people in the coffee shop staring at them. Sheldon kept his arm around Amy. She was smiling and looking at the ring and tears were falling from her face.

"Are you okay?" Sheldon asked when they got in her car.

"Yes. Of course. That was the most romantic thing you've ever done," Amy said as she started car.

"Really? Even more romantic than the time that I took you to the train store and that Richard Feynman exhibit on the same day? That was pretty romantic," Sheldon said without any hint of sarcasm or irony.

He was cute. She loved him more than she had ever loved anyone, and he just asked her to be his forever. Or maybe he asked to be hers forever.

"The ring was my grandmother's. She gave it to me when we were in Texas," Sheldon said suddenly as Amy started parking.

Once she was stopped, Amy looked at the ring again. It was beautiful, but knowing it belonged to Sheldon's grandmother made it practically glow on her finger. It felt more real that he would give her something that had once belonged to his other favorite person. Asking her to marry him was just words, but this showed a trust in her. He was trusting her with something important. Of course, she trusted him with her heart, so it seemed like a fair trade.

"She gave you a ring a few days after I threatened to move out? How did she know we would get better?" Amy asked.

"She's a smart lady. MeeMaw knows that I love you. She has faith in us, and so do I," Sheldon said.

Amy looked at him and pressed the button to remove her seat belt before throwing herself at him. She wasn't sure how she moved so deftly across the car with so little space, but Amy found herself being caught by Sheldon with a little breathy noise and pulled into his lap. She was glad that she didn't seem to have hurt him with her impulsiveness. Amy wrapped her hands behind his neck and kissed him. She kissed them the way that she wished she could have in the coffee shop; the way that would express how much love and passion she held for this man who was holding her now. He held her close for a moment, but then there was a woman walking a dog just outside the car.

"Maybe we should take this celebration inside," Sheldon said.

"Yeah. That might be best," Amy said. She leaned over and took the keys from the ignition and then opened Sheldon's door and got out. Sheldon took her left hand and kissed her ring before they went upstairs.

When they got to the fourth floor, they started toward their apartment, but then Amy suddenly stopped. "Can we tell Leonard and Penny?" Amy asked.

"Yes. They knew I was asking, but we can tell them that you said yes," Sheldon told her.

"Did everyone know you were asking? This what the Wyatt thing was about too, right?" Amy asked. She wasn't mad, but Sheldon wasn't usually one to ask for anyone's opinion on anything. Well, he often asked her opinion, but she was different. Maybe he needed all of those other people's opinions because he couldn't ask hers.

Sheldon nodded and said, "Leonard and Penny knew, my mother, my grandmother, and Wyatt all knew. Oh, and your parents. I asked your father for his blessing, but he warned me not to tell you that because you would be mad if you knew that I asked him before I asked you."

"I'm not mad, but I'm not anyone's property. Including yours. This ring doesn't mean that you own me. We're partners; got it?" Amy told him firmly. She liked that he was honest with her about it despite her father's warning.

Sheldon nodded again. Amy turned to knock on her friends' door and Sheldon resisted reaching out above her to knock correctly. Penny answered the door, and Sheldon couldn't believe that Penny hadn't revealed anything in the several days that she knew about the proposal. She looked at Amy so expectantly that even Sheldon could read it on her face.

"We're getting married," Amy said with a big smile.

Penny made a very squeaky noise and pulled Amy in for a hug. Leonard came over and shook Sheldon's hand in congratulations. Penny pulled Sheldon in for a hug too, but she added, "Get over it, Dr. Whack-a-doodle," when he complained.

"Do you guys want to come in for a drink?" Penny asked when she finally let go of Sheldon.

"No. We should get going home. We just wanted to share our good news with you two. You are the first to know," Sheldon said.

Amy looked up at him. She wondered why he was in such a hurry to get home. She knew he didn't drink alcohol, but Penny and Leonard usually had Yoo-hoo or Kool-Aid or something for him.

They walked across the hall and into their apartment. "That was rude, Sheldon. They wanted to celebrate with us," Amy said.

Sheldon took her hand and sat her next to him on the couch. "I thought you would want to continue our private celebration from the car," Sheldon said as he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him.

"Oh. Yes. That," Amy said as she turned toward him. It didn't take either of them long to be lost in kissing each other. That was until Amy realized that Sheldon was unbuttoning her sweater. She didn't stop him or stop kissing him while he did it. She pulled her arms away from his neck and rolled her shoulders to help him remove the cardigan and only paid a little attention as he threw her sweater onto the other side of the couch. He didn't make any attempt to remove any of the rest of her clothes and he barely touched her though her blouse, but it was the first time he had ever removed a piece of her clothing. Sheldon had obviously seen Amy without her sweater, and he often touched or held her while she was only wearing a nightgown that was much thinner than the clothes she was currently wearing.

When they finally came up for air, Sheldon said, "That was technically against the Relationship Agreement. Kissing and touching are allowed, but removing clothing is not. You just wear so many layers," Sheldon said with a smile.

"I could punish you," Amy said with a smirk. Sheldon swallowed hard, and Amy laughed. "I won't, but might we suggest a few changes to the agreement. We are engaged now, and it seems silly to live by the old boyfriend/girlfriend rules. Why don't you get a copy of the agreement and your notary kit. We have some changes to make."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: What? NFG is trying her hand at an "M" rated story? Well, maybe. This rating change has more to do with me being cautious, but there is a little bit of raciness in this chapter. I would like to thank everyone who responded to my minor crisis about whether or not to continue this story. It will continue until the wedding. Also, I hope to keep posting regularly through November, but I'm attempting to do NaNoWriMo again this year. Thanks for reading. Love you guys.**

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It wasn't like Sheldon didn't know certain things would be expected from him once he and Amy were married. She'd said as much to him once when he brought up the idea of marriage. She had said, "I would expect us to live in the same home and to even have sex if we were married." He knew he still wasn't ready for it, but they weren't married yet.

He liked kissing her and he even liked touching her body, but they had never done anything without clothes on. Even before things had gone wrong, they hadn't made it that far. Amy had never made it a secret that she wanted more from him. She was patient and loving, so she never pushed him for it. Still, things were going to have to start changing.

"Can we have dinner before we start talking about changes to the Agreement?" Sheldon asked. He knew he was stalling for time. It would be a difficult conversation for them to have because he didn't know exactly how to have that conversation.

"Yes. We're going to have to talk about this at some point, but it doesn't have to be today. You don't have to be afraid of me," Amy said as she kissed his neck one more time. Amy got up to start dinner. Since Amy had moved in, Sunday was almost always, "Make Dinner at Home Night." She and Sheldon alternated who made dinner, and it was her turn.

"We can go out. Keep celebrating? We can even invite Leonard and Penny since you said I was rude to them earlier," Sheldon suggested.

"You want to change your schedule?"

"Well, not forever, but I wouldn't be adverse to going out to dinner with our friends on this one occasion," Sheldon said.

Amy put away the pan that she had gotten out. "Okay. Let's call everyone and have them meet us for dinner. We have some good news to share," Amy said.

They got everyone together and Sheldon tapped his knife against his glass even though the restaurant was quiet already. "Leonard and Penny already know this, but today I asked Amy to marry me and she said yes."

"Wow," Raj said. He and Bernadette got up to look at the ring. Howard slapped Sheldon on the back before Sheldon could jump back.

"Congratulations, guys," Bernadette said as she hugged Amy.

Raj ordered a bottle of champagne for the table and even Sheldon had a couple sips from the glass that was poured in front of him. His hand found Amy's knee as Raj said a toast to them. Sheldon often felt that friends were overrated, but he could see their value when they were so genuinely happy for them.

They hadn't planned to stay out late with their friends, but Sheldon and Amy didn't get home until after ten. They went straight to bed without talking about the Relationship Agreement.

Amy woke up lying across Sheldon's chest. She snuggled into him a little bit and he woke up and gave her a sleepy smile. He still had trouble processing how comfortable he was with her touching him like that. It was supposed to be uncomfortable to wake up with someone's arms wrapped around him and head pressed to his chest.

Amy got up to go take a shower and get ready for work. There was a part of her who wanted to stay home with Sheldon and look at bridal magazines. There was yet another part of her who knew that the engagement didn't even really hit her yet. She kept waiting for it strike her. Amy hoped that one day Sheldon would want to marry her, but she thought it would be years away before he would want it; if he ever did.

After her shower, Amy found herself gripping the edge of the sink. She was staring at her reflection with her wet hair falling into her face and the towel wrapped tightly around her. "There are so many people I need to tell," Amy muttered to herself.

"Don't forget to call your parents," Sheldon said from outside the door. She wasn't sure if he heard her or if he was just reminding her.

Amy cracked the door to the bathroom and said, "I thought you already told them."

"I told them that I was asking. I didn't tell them that you said yes. I suppose I should call my mother today since she doesn't know how you responded either yet," Sheldon started. Then he noticed that the door to the bathroom was open a little bit. Amy had left it cracked so that they could talk while she started straightening her hair.

Amy was wearing a towel and he could only see her through a two inch crack in the door, but it was still enough to send his imagination running wild. He could see so much of her legs and he knew what was under that towel from the time that he helped bathe her when she was sick.

Amy noticed that Sheldon had gone quiet, so she opened the door a little more and looked at him. He looked off, so she started walking toward him. "Sheldon, are you okay?" Amy asked.

"Yes. I'm fine," Sheldon said as he walked into the guest bedroom and closed the door. He sat on the bed and tried to remember to breathe. He thought Amy was beautiful and he loved her, but that kind of base attraction to her startled him.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Amy was upset. She was alarmed by the way that he had just locked her out that way. They always talked to each other, even when they were upset with each other. She worried that he was going to change on her again. She couldn't stand the idea that he wouldn't be able to touch her. Amy just ended up backing back into the bathroom. She found herself sitting on the floor, crying.

Sheldon collected himself and finally opened the door the guest room a few moments later. He was greeted by the sight of the love of his life sobbing on the bathroom floor.

"What's wrong?" Sheldon asked. She was still only clad in that towel, but he found himself much more concerned by the fact that she was crying. He knelt down next to her.

"You. You don't want to marry me. I'm losing you again. You don't want to touch me. I saw how afraid you were of me just now," Amy said at him between sobs.

He wanted to pull her in for a hug, but he was worried about upsetting her more. He also tried not to laugh about her misunderstanding. She was so off the mark that it was ridiculous, but he thought that was his fault. He hadn't done a good enough job showing her how much he loved and wanted her.

He sat on the floor. "I had to lock myself in that room for a moment because I wanted to have my way with you right here in the bathroom. You're quite fetching in that towel, you know."

"Really?" Amy asked.

"Of course. I think you wear far too many layers, but it makes it easier for me to get through my day. Not that I don't think of peeling each and every piece of clothing off of you dozens of times every single day."

"Are you being facetious?"

"No. Why would you think that?"

"You limit our touching and kissing so much. I thought you were at your limit of what you can handle."

Sheldon didn't know what to say. He knew that his inability to touch Amy was one of the great shortcomings of his life.

He leaned in to kiss Amy. She kissed him back and let him lay her out on the floor. His hands touched her still-wet hair and found their way down her shoulders. She thought it was unfair that she was so undressed while he was still in his pajamas, so she started to unbutton his top. His hands were very focused on touching the skin of her shoulders and her hair, so she couldn't get his shirt off, but at least she could touch his chest through his undershirt.

Sheldon moved down to kiss Amy's neck and she started squirming under his touch. He kept his hands confined to her shoulders and neck. She kept pushing on his arms and he pulled back to see what she wanted. She pulled at his pajama top and undershirt. The top of her towel had come loose and he could see her breasts. He froze.

Amy pulled her towel back over herself, but she was afraid the moment had been ruined.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered, but he stood up. "We have to get ready for work," he said a little louder. Whatever spell he had been under was broken, but he knew he would be thinking about her all day. At least he could pretend that he was thinking about the engagement instead of how she looked lying there under just that towel.

He helped Amy up from the floor. She was disappointed that the impromptu make-out session was over, and she pressed herself against Sheldon to give him one last kiss before getting dressed. She gasped slightly when she felt Sheldon's erection through his pajama pants against her leg. It was the first time that she had ever felt it. She had been aware of it's existence a few times, but Sheldon usually shut things down at that point. Embarrassed, she ducked out of the bathroom to get dressed.

Amy got dressed while she thought about what had just happened. When it was happening, she couldn't think about anything but the way his hands and mouth felt on her body. After stepping away from it, she couldn't believe that any of it had happened on her part or especially on Sheldon's. She debated leaving without seeing Sheldon again, but decided that would be silly.

Sheldon came out of the bathroom dressed in a Batman t-shirt and yellow undershirt. He was a little glad to see that Amy had gotten dressed before getting breakfast. He didn't know what had come over him in the bathroom, but they didn't have time to explore it. And he knew that he wanted to explore it, or more accurately, her. Unfortunately, some other things had to happen before they could get to that.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I wasn't planning on posting today, but I'm not a big fan of Tuesdays. I thought that I might entertain you and me by posting an extra chapter this week. I'll see you guys again tomorrow. Enjoy!**

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Neither Sheldon nor Amy said much as they had their oatmeal. They didn't know what to say to each other after their make-out session. Amy thought about thanking Sheldon for his obsessive cleaning schedule since she never anticipated kissing him while lying on the floor of the bathroom. Instead, Amy just took Sheldon's bowl and washed it along with her own.

There was a knock at the door that was Leonard coming to drive Sheldon to work. Sheldon went to answer the door and was about to follow Leonard out to his car before he turned around and walked back into the apartment. He wrapped his arms around Amy's waist and pulled her in for one more kiss. It was sweeter and softer than the kisses in the bathroom.

"We need to talk about this morning, so I'm going to pick you up from work today," Amy whispered in his ear.

"Okay," Sheldon said cheerily before kissing the top of Amy's head. "I'm looking forward to it." He had been nervous about talking about his relationship with Amy and where exactly it was going, but if it was going where it had gone that morning, he was looking forward to it. Also, he felt like they could use some boundaries before they just let their animal hind brains take over.

Sheldon walked back over to Leonard who had just sort of watched Sheldon act so lovingly with his fiancee. It was like seeing Bigfoot, but he was happy for his friend. "Amy's picking me up from work," Sheldon said.

"Yeah? Maybe she can start driving you to work too," Leonard said.

"Maybe," Sheldon said, not noticing Leonard's sarcasm.

Amy left for work, and even though she thought a lot about Sheldon, she didn't think that people would notice her ring. She was wrong. She was really wrong. In fact, it seemed like her whole morning was spent accepting congratulations from her colleagues. Amy didn't think she would get any work done, so she did something she very rarely did; she ditched work.

Amy went out to her car and drove around for a while. She found herself at a bookstore with an armful of bridal magazines. She thought that Sheldon would probably want to wait years before they would actually get married, but Amy wanted to look at magazines anyway. When lunch came around, Amy collected her magazines and decided to drive over to Cal Tech to find Sheldon.

She found him in his office. Amy knocked on Sheldon's door, and heard, "Alex, I told you to take the day off."

Amy opened the door, "It's me," she said.

"Amy? What are you doing here?" Sheldon asked.

"I'm playing hooky from work. I thought that you might want to have lunch together."

"Hooky? Really, Amy? Penny is such a bad influence on you," Sheldon said.

"I wasn't going to get any work done. Someone should have warned me that this ring would act like beacon to every person with whom I've ever had a conversation at work. I stuck around for three hours, but people kept coming in to congratulate me. I thought that I could find some corner to hide in until you were ready to go home," Amy said, holding up her magazines to show Sheldon.

"I understand. I had to send my assistant home after she tried to hug me," Sheldon said with a little shiver. Then he put down his marker, and said, "Can we make one stop before we go to the cafeteria?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Kripke didn't believe me this morning, but now that you are here, I can show you off. We might have to kiss in front of him. Ever since he found out that I lied about having sex with you, he has started questioning if we are even in a relationship," Sheldon said. Even though it was over a year ago, he was embarrassed that he had lied about his relationship with Amy. She had been very mad at him when she learned of the lie, but they had worked through it.

"Let's go catch him before he gets to the cafeteria. I have colleagues who work here, so let's try to keep any scenes confined to a smaller audience," Amy said as she grabbed Sheldon's hand.

They found Kripke in his office. "See, Kripke, Amy is here and she has my grandmother's ring on her finger. Is that enough for you to believe me?"

"No. You cawed hew hewe to pway a pwank on me," Kripke said. "I'm not fawing fow it. It's a pwetty wame pwank too."

Amy sighed and grabbed the collar of Sheldon's shirt and pulled him down to her before she kissed him. She pulled Sheldon's bottom lip into her mouth and bit it slightly as she pulled back. Kripke looked shocked as she released Sheldon's lower lip and it snapped back into position. It was fast and Sheldon needed a second to get his bearings again.

"Prank or not, he's getting more action than you are. Let's go, Dr. Cooper," Amy said as she grabbed Sheldon's hand again and led him back out the office door.

Sheldon blindly followed Amy to the cafeteria as she led him by the hand. He didn't realize that she was speaking to him at first. "He was never going to believe you. He probably still doesn't, but we can invite him to the wedding anyway," Amy said.

"What?" Sheldon asked.

"I was just apologizing to you because of my display. Though, to be honest, your deer in the headlights look is giving me the impression that you didn't mind it much. Should we skip lunch and go back to your office and revisit this morning?" Amy teased. She still showed him a bravado far beyond her experience, but she didn't actually mean anything by it. It was just habit at this point.

Sheldon thought about it, but shook his head. "Not until we've amended the Agreement."

"I know," Amy said. They had reached the cafeteria by then, so they got their food and found the guys. Raj got up and grabbed an extra chair and moved to the end of the table when he saw that Amy was with Sheldon.

"Thank you, Rajesh," Amy said with a smile.

"No problem. What brings you by?" Raj asked.

"It seems that if you are newly engaged, people will come out of the woodwork to congratulate you even if you are an accomplished neurobiologist," Amy told them. "People were getting on my nerves at work, so I came here to have lunch with Sheldon. You'd think there would be more for them to discuss than my personal life, but I guess not. Sheldon, perhaps we should elope and not tell anyone."

"Really?" Sheldon asked. He looked intrigued by that idea.

"Sheldon, I was joking," Amy said. Sheldon looked a little disappointed.

"You let the elopement thing go, or I will call your mother," Leonard said.

"Fine," Sheldon said grumpily. He knew his mother would never forgive him if he ran off to the germ ridden, hell hole Las Vegas and married Amy with no family included.

After lunch, Amy walked Sheldon back to his office. "I'm going to go find somewhere to hole up until you are ready to go home. Just send me a text when you are ready to go," Amy told him.

"You can stay in here if you would like," Sheldon told her. "You will have more privacy if you stay here than if you find some table in the library."

"Thank you," Amy said. She curled into the corner of his office and started flipping through her magazines. She didn't even know where to start when it came to planning her wedding. It seemed like she just did as she was told when it came to Penny and Leonard's wedding. She didn't know how to choose colors or food or clothes. _We still have time_, Amy thought. They hadn't even chosen a date yet.

Still Amy sat there quietly circling things that she liked. She got pretty wrapped up in it, so she didn't notice when Sheldon sat down next to her and started looking over her shoulder. She jumped when Sheldon asked, "Can we have chocolate cake?"

"Do you mean right now or for the wedding?"

"The wedding."

"Yes. Well, I suppose the answer to both of those questions would be yes. We can have chocolate cake for the wedding," Amy said. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

Then they sat there on the floor of his office just looking at each other for a moment longer before getting up and walking to Amy's car together.


	16. Chapter 16

They got home and had dinner together before they started discussing the Agreement. Sheldon pulled out a document that he had been working on. "Read through this and then we can move on from there," Sheldon told Amy as he handed her his revised document.

She looked through it. It said that they could remove each other's clothing now, but only above the waist. Any and all touching below the waist required clothing to act as a barrier. These things would be reviewed every two weeks to make sure they were comfortable with it. It all seemed like a reasonable start. Knowing Sheldon, it even seemed generous. Then Amy got to a part that confused her. The Agreement said, "No coitus is to happen between the two parties until September 23rd."

"Why September 23rd?" Amy asked when she got to that part.

"That is the day that I would like to get married. If you want a different date, then I'll need to change the Agreement to reflect that," Sheldon replied.

There was a lot of information being thrown at Amy in that moment. She started with what was easily the most surprising. "You want to get married in four months?"

"Yes. September 23rd is the anniversary of our first date. However, I am open to other dates if you had one in mind," Sheldon told her.

Amy thought there would be years between the proposal and the wedding. This was Sheldon. He needed her to go on a date with another man before he became her boyfriend. He almost lost her before he proposed. Yet here he was, a perfect date picked out and only a few months out. Amy hadn't thought about their first date in a long time, but she liked the idea that he had picked something that meant something to the two of them.

"It sounds perfect," Amy said. Then she thought about the rest of it. She blushed and cleared her throat before asking, "No coitus until we are married?"

"I promised my mother," Sheldon said. This was the part of the conversation that he was dreading. He knew Amy wouldn't push him on it. If she had been willing to stay with him for five years without intercourse, she wouldn't leave him for making her wait a few months more. He wasn't even sure why he was keeping that promise to his mother, but it was so deeply engrained in him that he had trouble even seeing past it.

"I should have went ahead with the elopement plan," Amy muttered. Still she signed the Agreement before sliding it over to Sheldon for him to sign as well.

Once he was done, Amy said, "Now, I'm allowed to take off your shirt."

"You should probably call your parents first. You didn't tell them yet, remember?"

Amy sunk her face into Sheldon's chest. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. "You know that we have the rest of our lives together, right? You can make one phone call. You can make a dozen phone calls," Sheldon said.

"I know. I'm just not looking forward to another awkward talk with my mother," Amy said, but she got up and went into the bedroom to make the call anyway.

Sheldon could only hear Amy's side of the conversation as he cleaned up the remnants from dinner and the Agreement supplies.

"Hello, Mother. I just called to tell you that Sheldon and I are getting married on September 23rd... We just picked the date. I wanted you to be the first to know when... No, Mother, I'm not pregnant... Why would I try to hide it by picking a date four months away? I would be showing by then..." Amy said. Sheldon started laughing. He could imagine that his mother might have a similar reaction when he finally called her and told her when he and Amy were getting married.

Sheldon decided to call his mother.

"Cooper residence," Mary said as she answered the phone.

"Hello, Mom."

"Don't 'hello, Mom' me. I need to know what happened," Mary said.

"She said yes. We're currently planning on getting married on September 23rd, but we haven't made any other plans than the date."

"Wow. That's soon. Your girl isn't in a family way, is she?" Mary asked.

Sheldon laughed. "No. Her mother is accusing her of the same thing right now. It's the anniversary of our first date, so we decided that it was a good day to choose to get married. Leonard and Penny only had a few months between their engagement and their wedding too," Sheldon added.

"Yes, but Leonard and Penny are a very different kind of couple than you and Amy. Okay, I'll call the church and see if Pastor Roberts can fit you two in on the 23rd even if you only go once a year," Mary said.

"I went twice this year. Plus again when I was in Texas with you," Sheldon said. He didn't mean to tell his mother that because he was afraid she would think he was finding religion again.

"You did?"

"I went the day I asked her. I'm not planning on going on a regular basis, but I went that day. I don't want to talk about it," Sheldon added.

"Okay. I'm glad that you found strength in our Lord even if you don't want to admit it," Mary said.

Amy walked back out to the living room. "I've got to go, Mom. I just wanted to update you. Let me know what the Pastor says, and I'll let you know if anything else comes up," Sheldon said.

"Okay, Shelly. Have a good night," Mary told her son.

"Thanks, Mom, you, too," Sheldon said before hanging up the phone.

Sheldon set his phone down on the counter and walked over to Amy. "How did it go?" he asked her.

"Other than the fact that my mother doesn't believe I'm not pregnant, it went pretty well. I suppose she'll believe me when there is no baby. At least, not yet," Amy said looking up at Sheldon.

"My mother seemed to jump to that conclusion as well. As if we wouldn't use protection if we were having coitus. We won't be ready for children until I've gotten another raise if you stay with them or you've gotten two raises if I stay with them," Sheldon said.

"You've put a lot of thought into that. All I thought about was that I would like time alone with you before we bring children into it," Amy said.

"There is that as well," Sheldon admitted.

"Should we have a more serious discussion about this?" Amy asked suddenly. It seemed like something they should talk about before they got married. Amy had always wanted children. At least she had always wanted Sheldon's children.

"Maybe another day. We've already had a few serious discussions today, and as long as we can agree that we want children, but not now, we'll be okay. That's something we wanted since we met. Though, the situation has changed and I no longer believe that they will be formed in a test tube," Sheldon said. He was tired and he didn't want to talk about specifics regarding their future children.

"Should we go to bed?" Amy asked. She could see how tired he was.

"Okay, but first I want to do something," Sheldon said. He unbuttoned Amy's sweater and removed it. "That's all. I think about doing that everyday of my life."

Amy smiled at how sweet it was. He proved that he wanted her. She wanted to take off his t-shirts, but that seemed like a little too much for tonight. Instead, she waited until he came into their room and she unbuttoned the top two buttons of his pajama top. All it exposed was a bit more of his white undershirt, but she just touched his chest for a moment before settling in beside him to sleep. The new freedom to remove his clothing was a little scary, and Amy was convinced that she would need to work up to more with him. She was glad for the Relationship Agreement and it's restrictions. Not that she would ever admit it.

* * *

**A/N: The Robotic Manipulation first aired on September 23rd in The United States. I'm a sentimental fool, hence the proposal on May 24th and the wedding set to take place on September 23rd. I'm not going to lie, no matter what happens on the show, that will always be their anniversary to me. Thanks for reading, and I'll be back with another chapter on Monday.**


	17. Chapter 17

When Amy woke up the next morning, she was on her side facing away from Sheldon. She could feel that he was still there even if she couldn't see him. His arm was around her, and she realized that his hand was gently cupping her right breast. She took a quick intake of air, and wondered if he was awake and if he knew how he was holding her.

Amy could usually gauge if Sheldon was asleep by his breath and his heart rate, but both of those were drowned out by her own louder breath and heart rate. It wasn't like this was the very first time he had touched her there. It had been a while, sure. It had been before.

Sheldon nuzzled Amy's neck and gently squeezed her breast. He kissed the back of her neck, and Amy, said "oh," in what almost sounded like a squeak. Then he stiffened behind her and removed his hand. She turned toward him to see what happened.

"I'm sorry, Amy. I don't know what came over me," Sheldon said, looking completely mortified.

Amy stretched to kiss him. She didn't usually try to kiss him unless she had brushed her teeth, but he looked so panicked and embarrassed. "You do that whenever you want. In fact, I seem to recall an update to the Relationship Agreement that says you can even take my shirt off first, now."

Sheldon blushed more, but nodded. Amy thought about putting his hand back where it was because she was quite enjoying it, but she didn't want to upset Sheldon. It wasn't until he had gotten up to get ready for work that she realized that she hadn't been at all scared he didn't want to touch her when he pulled away. Amy smiled at the realization that she was starting to really trust him again.

"Are you going to skip work again today?" Sheldon asked as they ate breakfast in the kitchen after they were dressed and ready.

"No. I can't avoid the attention forever. Yesterday, I just had a little trouble processing everything. Well, that and I wanted to spend the day with you."

"Would you like to pick me up again? It's Tuesday, so we could meet everyone at The Cheesecake Factory," Sheldon suggested.

"Yeah, I can do that. You don't want to ride over with Leonard and just meet me there?" Amy asked. That was how they usually did things. She almost always drove him home from the restaurant. She was willing to pick him up though. She loved any extra time she got to spend with him. He answered that he would much rather have Amy pick him up before complaining about Leonard for some reason or another.

* * *

People were much more relaxed at work, and by the time that Amy left, she decided that she had gotten enough done to make up a little for leaving early the day before. She knew that Sheldon would be waiting for her, so she left to pick him up.

In fact, Sheldon was waiting in the parking lot when she arrived to pick him up. He got in the passenger's seat and leaned across the car and gave Amy quick kiss. She loved that he did that now. He wouldn't have done it if she had gone inside, but the car was private enough for him to kiss her. Kripke's office had been too public, but they had a point to prove there.

Amy knew they would never been like Leonard and Penny making out in the back of a darkened movie theater, and she was glad for it. Her feelings for Sheldon often led her to think about doing inappropriate things to him in public places, but she knew neither of them would ever be comfortable with it.

They pulled into the parking lot of The Cheesecake Factory. Amy wondered how much longer this little tradition would continue. Penny had had two callback auditions for the soap opera job she had been coveting. It could be that Penny's days of being a waitress were coming to an end.

Sheldon and Amy went inside. Everyone else was there, and they greeted them enthusiastically. Penny pour them each a glass of water and asked, "What's new guys?"

"We've decided on a date for the wedding. We are getting married on September 23rd," Amy told the group.

"Wow, that's soon," Penny said.

"Yes. I was hoping that you might have some advice or some ideas, given your own recent nuptials," Amy said.

Penny had stopped pretending to even take their order and grabbed a chair to sit down next to Amy. "I still have my binder of stuff. We can start there. I should be getting off work around the same time you are all going home. Why don't you come over and we can start going over some of it."

"Thanks, Penny," Amy said, relieved. She didn't really believe that she was going to have to do this all without help, but her was glad that Penny was so enthusiastic about it.

Everyone had a good time at dinner. Bernadette and Raj both offered to help in anyway they could to get Sheldon and Amy married on September 23rd. Then they all left for home. Amy followed Leonard and Penny into their apartment when they all got home.

Sheldon came along. He really didn't care about color choices or flowers, but he felt like he spent so much time away from Amy lately. He thought it would be nice to spend the evening with Leonard and Penny too. They were finally getting away from the constant affection of the newlywed phase and he could stand to be around them again.

Amy was a little intimidated by Penny's wedding binder. She had seen it when she was helping with planning the wedding, but it seemed even bigger now.

"Okay, you guys need to figure out a few things as soon as possible. You need to decide where you are going to have the wedding and the reception and then you need to decide on some invitations. People are going to need to know when and where to go and plan accordingly," Penny said matter of factly. She was very no nonsense when it came to this wedding stuff.

"I've already spoken to my mother. She is going to arrange the wedding take place in a local church. Maybe we can ask Stuart if we can have the reception in the comic book store," Sheldon said. Everyone just looked at him.

"Okay, church wedding and not the comic book store," Penny said as she pulled out a bunch of brochures for venues for receptions. She pointed to three of them as she handed them over. "These were the ones that we liked the best that were within our budget. Amy, you went with me to these two, but if you want to check out the other one I can go with you this weekend."

There was so much information being thrown at Amy that she was starting to panic again. She tried to remember what the venues looked like from her visit months previously. Amy didn't want to have her reception at the same place as Penny and Leonard because she wanted it to be inside.

"Is this one indoors? I would rather have the reception indoors," Amy said.

"The comic book store is indoors," Sheldon said.

"No, sweetie. Just no," Penny said. Then she turned back to Amy and said, "I think this one has parts that are indoors and outdoors. I'll take you to go see it this weekend. I think you'll really like it."

Sheldon pulled his phone out of his pocket and started playing around with it. He didn't have much to say about the planning anyway. The girls talked about caterers and florists and color palettes. It was nearly an hour later before they consulted him again.

"Sheldon, you said your mother is taking care of the church around here? Do you know where it is?" Penny asked.

"Yes, it's not far from here. It is the church she picked out for me to go to once a year, and she goes there when she visits me," he told her. "Can we go home now?" The last part was directed at Amy.

"You could have gone home any time you wanted, Sheldon. You're the one who wanted to get married so soon, and that takes planning," Amy said.

"Please?" Sheldon asked.

"Fine. We've taken up enough of Penny and Leonard's time this evening as it is. Thank you both for your help. I'll do some research on all of this information and let you know. It means so much that you are willing to help me with all of this," Amy said. Then she took Sheldon's hand and went across the hall.

"Thank you," Sheldon said as soon as the door was closed. His gaze grew ferocious, and Amy wondered what had come over him. He pushed her up against the door and pressed his lips against hers. His hands ran up and down her sides until he was annoyed with her layers again. He found the buttons on her sweater and resisted the urge to just rip them off. She took off her sweater and felt his hands find her breasts over her shirt without his mouth ever leaving hers. She couldn't help but lean into him.

Amy slid her hands under Sheldon's shirts and ran her nails across his back. He made a noise in her mouth, so she didn't stop. Sheldon pulled back, but he pulled her with him. His goal was to get her on the couch. He sat her down into his spot and pushed her against the armrest. He only pulled away from her long enough to pull off his own shirts. Once they were gone, Amy started stroking the hair on his chest. She loved the access because normally, the only time she got to touch him without a shirt was when she was putting ointment on his congested chest.

Sheldon was trying to keep control, so he didn't try to remove Amy's shirt. Instead, he just unbuttoned the top buttons and kissed and licked her neck and collarbone. He was fascinated by the way the skin dipped right above the bone and spent a little too long there while his hands seem to reach for every part he could touch.

Amy ran her hands through Sheldon's hair and it was standing straight up. Amy wanted to kiss Sheldon, but he was so focused on her neck that she couldn't reach him. She pushed him back and before he could even register that she had pushed him away she had her own mouth pressed against his again. She loved the taste of his tongue as she massaged it with her own.

Sheldon pulled back when Amy moaned into his mouth. He had run his thumb over her nipple, and even through the layers it sent a jolt through her.

"Why did you stop?" Amy asked. She put her forehead on Sheldon's chest as they panted and tried to catch their breath.

"I didn't want to. I want to take you back to our room and strip you and do all of those things that I'm waiting until after the wedding to do," Sheldon told her. He still had his arms around her, but they weren't moving anymore.

"I want that too," Amy said quietly.

"I know, but please let me wait," Sheldon said.

"I know it's important to you. We'll find a way to find a balance until the wedding. Then we'll lock ourselves away until we can't even think of having sex because we've indulged too much," Amy said.

Sheldon shifted Amy out of his spot so he could sit down, but he kept his arm around her. "I have trouble believing that is possible. You would not believe the amount of time I've thought about it. The urge never lessens or goes away even with self abuse. I imagine that it will just get worse with the act."

"You think about it? With me?" Amy asked. She was curious what he thought about.

"For longer than I care to admit. It started as dreams, but it's progressed into my waking life as well," Sheldon admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? I felt like I was alone in wanting it for so long," Amy asked. She wasn't accusing him of anything, but she wanted to know why he had hidden that from her for so long.

"First of all, we weren't ready. I started having those kinds of dreams before you even lived here. Secondly, I knew that if you knew how badly I wanted you, but hadn't proposed yet, you would try to convince me to have premarital sex. I would have caved in a minute. At least now, we have an date and we know how far away it is," Sheldon told her.

"Yes. That knowledge will have to get us through," Amy said as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Sheldon had a point. The more intimate they became, the harder it was to control herself. "Maybe I should go move into Howard and Bernadette's guest room until September. I'm going to have a hard time sleeping with you without touching you."

"Please don't do that," Sheldon said.

"I won't. I would be there for about twenty minutes before I would be back in my car to come home to you. I have no interest in sleeping or living or eating or working or anything without you, Sheldon," Amy said as she put her head on his shoulder.


	18. Chapter 18

By Friday, Amy was disappointed that Sheldon had yet to really use the new allowances in the Relationship Agreement. Then again, work had gotten busy, so they barely had the time to kiss, let alone remove clothes. She also suspected that he was trying to keep control of himself. She walked in on him in what looked like meditation more than once. Sometimes it seemed like a good idea herself. Maybe she would ask Sheldon to show her some tips. Since it was important to him to wait until the wedding, it was important to her.

Saturday was the day that Amy was to go venue shopping with Penny and Bernadette. Mary had also called back about the church. The pastor wanted to meet with Amy before he would completely book their wedding date. He knew Sheldon enough to not require him to come in.

Amy and Penny went to pick up Bernadette so that they could go out at places together. The first couple of places that the trio had gone to were already booked for the 23rd, and Amy and Sheldon weren't very flexible about the date. Then they went to the place that Penny had recommended, and Amy loved it. It had plenty of space inside, but there was a wonderful garden that guests could wander though. It was really beautiful and it was available on September 23rd. The only problem was that it was over the budget that the couple had agreed on. Not terribly so, but Sheldon had calculated their budget down to every cent. Amy loved it so much that she thought she would talk to him about it before she completely just walked away.

"Hello, Amy. How is the venue shopping?" Sheldon said, answering the phone.

"Hey, Sheldon. I found a place that I love, but it's more expensive than we talked about," Amy said sadly. "It isn't much more than we talked about, but more is more." She described the venue and told him how much it was.

"Do you really love it?" Sheldon asked. He was concerned about going over, but given the statistical probability of going over budget, he had actually created two budgets. One was the goal and the other was a little more realistic. They could afford both, but the second would cut into their savings.

"I really do. Would you hate me if I booked it, Sheldon?"

"Of course not, kid. We'll make it work."

"I love you so much. I'll see you at home later," Amy told him.

"I love you, too."

Sheldon set down the phone. He couldn't help but smile that he had made her so happy with such a little thing.

Amy returned to the group with the good news. She paid the deposit, and since they didn't have to visit any of the spots, they decided to grab lunch too. They went to a little restaurant that Amy had never been to before. Penny claimed that they had great crepes, so Amy ordered one with spinach, mushrooms, and cheese. She also ordered a glass of wine. It seemed early in the day, but she never realized how stressful making all of these little decisions was. She only had the one glass since she still had to meet with the pastor.

The girls wanted details about how Sheldon asked and what happened since. Amy told them about most of it. Then they accompanied Amy to the church. It was beautiful and would definitely be big enough to handle their guest list.

Amy found Pastor Roberts and introduced herself and her friends. Penny and Bernadette decided to have a look around while Amy followed the pastor to his office.

"So, I hear that you would like to get married in our church on September 23rd," Roberts said.

"Yes. It is very important to my future mother-in-law for us to get married in a church, and I have to say it's very beautiful here."

"Normally, we would require a few sessions of counseling before we allow people to get married here, but I understand that it would be a difficult proposition with Sheldon. Mary has given us her word that she is going to talk to you both about a few things instead."

Amy was surprised to hear this, but it seemed like a fair enough compromise. She didn't particularly want to hear about sex from her mother-in-law, but it would be easier than trying to get Sheldon into this office with her.

They discussed a few other technicalities, but the whole thing was rather painless. Amy made a mental note to call Mary and thank her for working so hard to make this all as easy as she could. Maybe Mary was just glad that Sheldon was finally getting married and maybe going to give her grandbabies.

Amy shook hands with Pastor Roberts and Amy and Sheldon were scheduled to be married in the church on September 23rd at 3:30. She found Penny and Bernadette talking quietly about how nice the church was and that it was nice that it was close enough to the reception space.

The girls were interested in going out for drinks considering how much they had gotten done, but Amy was exhausted. She mostly just wanted to go home and cuddle up to Sheldon and watch some Doctor Who. Things had gotten weird when she actually wanted to watch Doctor Who. She thanked both of the girls profusely and they made plans to go look at dresses the next day.

Amy picked up some take out and went home. Sheldon was working on one of his white boards when she opened the door.

"Are you hungry? I picked up some Thai. I thought we could have a quiet night in and watch the new episode of Doctor Who before we do our laundry."

"That sounds wonderful. I knew you would like Doctor Who if you gave it a chance," Sheldon said as he took the food from Amy and gave her a quick kiss. He took the food to the kitchen and made up plates for both of them. "How did the meeting with the pastor go?"

"Your mother seems to have some serious pull for someone who doesn't actually attend that church on a regular basis. They are making some exceptions for us, and we are all set to get married there on the 23rd of September."

"My mother was always a bit of a charmer. She was the one who got me my job back at the university after I called Gablehauser an idiot."

Sheldon handed Amy the plate of food, but she just picked at it. The extra hours at work and then the day looking at venues had really taken their toll on her. She was exhausted and as soon as Sheldon was done eating, she set her plate down and stretched out on the couch with her head in his lap while they watched Doctor Who.

Sheldon started absentmindedly stroking her hair. He noticed that she had fallen asleep near the end of the of the show. It was time that they got started on their laundry, but he didn't want to wake her up. Very slowly, he slid himself out from underneath her and placed a pillow under her head. Sheldon thought that she must have been very tired to stay asleep even after he was up. He went into his room and gathered his laundry. Amy's laundry was in the hamper next to his. They usually did their laundry together, but kept their clothes separate. He supposed that it wouldn't hurt anything to combine them for the sake of efficiency this once since she was asleep.

Sheldon gathered their things and took them down to the laundry room to sort them down there. He was alone, and he was fine separating her clothes until he got to her underthings. He couldn't help but picture Amy in only the things that he was putting into the delicates bag. Sheldon was nearly done when he heard a throat clearing in the doorway.

He looked over and stopped guiltily like he was doing more than laundry. Amy was standing there.

"Thank you. I don't know why I was so tired, but thanks for starting the laundry without me," Amy said. She touched his arm. "I can take over if it's too much for you."

"I'm almost finished," Sheldon put the rest of the things in the washer and started it running.

They finished up their laundry together. Sheldon was a little relieved that he didn't have to deal with Amy's things anymore. It was easier to not think about removing her clothing when he wasn't folding it. Then they went upstairs and put everything away before going to bed.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I wrote the end of this chapter long before I read any taping reports or saw any promos. I just wanted to point that out because of... reasons. Thanks for reading.**

* * *

Sheldon woke up even earlier than he normally did the next morning. He wasn't sure why, but since it was Sunday and the only thing he had planned for the day was a game of paintball with the guys later, he just stayed in bed. It wasn't the kind of thing that he would do before Amy, but he was enjoying watching her sleep. She looked different without her glasses, but she was still his Amy. He would know that face anywhere and from any angle.

Amy muttered something that Sheldon couldn't quite understand. She usually only spoke in her sleep when she was having a nightmare. He thought about waking her up, but a small smile spread across her face. Then he heard her say, "I do," and a few tears slipped from her closed eyes. He would have been concerned that she was upset or sad, but the smile was still there. It was clear that she was dreaming of their wedding.

He couldn't help himself when Amy's mouth moved in a way that he was very familiar with, he moved toward her and placed a kiss on her waiting lips. Sheldon felt a little bad that he had done it when her eyes fluttered open.

"Sorry. I had to kiss you. It was our wedding after all," Sheldon said.

"Was I talking in my sleep? Did I wake you up?" Amy asked, embarrassed.

"I was already awake, and you only said enough for me to get a gist of what was happening. So, how was the wedding? Should we take some notes?"

Amy tried to think about her dream, but all she could remember was the church and Sheldon is a gray suit. "Um. You were in a gray suit, and it was a lovely service," Amy told him. She closed her eyes. "That's all I have."

Sheldon kissed her forehead. "Do you want me to wear a gray suit?"

"You looked very handsome in it, and I am very fond of the color," Amy said.

"I'll start looking. Let me know if you want me to do anything else," Sheldon said.

"Moral support? I'm supposed to start dress shopping with Penny and Bernadette today. I wasn't one of those kids who planned out their wedding to every detail when I was a little girl. I'm hoping that I can find things that suit us both," Amy said.

"Klingon invitations like Wolowitz had?" Sheldon asked.

"I'm not sure that I'm willing to go that far," Amy said. Then she thought about it for a moment. "How about one Klingon phrase at the bottom?" It was his wedding too.

"Oh! I know just the one," Sheldon said. Then he said a bunch of words that didn't sound like words. "This may require some thought. I'll get back to you," Sheldon said. Then he started speaking to himself in Klingon again.

_I'm marrying the cutest man-child on the planet_, Amy thought as she got out of bed to get ready to go shopping with the girls. She had a hardy breakfast because it seemed like it was going to be a long day. Then, Amy groaned because she realized it was only the beginning of this particular journey.

* * *

The girls looked in three dress shops before they even found something Amy wanted to try on. She was trying to find something that was between looking too old fashioned and looking too sexy. They were all too poofy and all too low cut. Amy obviously didn't conform to fashion standards, and she just wanted something that seemed like her.

They didn't even find any bridesmaid's dresses that they liked. Amy was feeling very discouraged by the whole experience until they got to the sixth store of the day. It wasn't a shop that Penny had recommended, but rather one that Amy spotted out the window as they drove by.

"Can we stop in that one?" she asked, and Penny pulled over. Amy was searching through the racks and racks of dresses, and she wasn't feeling any better about these. Then she saw one with a crossed v-neck. It looked like it would cover her well without making her look like she was getting married a hundred years ago. It didn't have much in the way of sleeves, but it also didn't show too much cleavage or back. Plus, it wasn't so puffy that she thought she would look like a cotton ball. She thought it was worth the time to try it on at least.

Amy tried it on and thought it was a little too long and the waist seemed a little too low for her short frame, but she actually liked the cut quite a lot. She walked out to let her friends see her in the dress. Bernadette looked like she was about to cry. Penny just said, "Oh, sweetie, you're beautiful."

Amy smiled at the girls. She was glad that they liked it as much as she did. "Do you really think this is the one?"

"I do. You'll need to get it altered, but I think you look radiant in it," Penny told her as she pulled her in for a hug. A shop clerk appeared from somewhere and helped Amy with the dress. She took some measurements and arranged to start the alterations on the dress. It took another hour before she was ready to leave, but she felt a lot better about having found such a beautiful wedding dress. Amy thought she didn't know what she wanted, but upon reflection, that was what she always pictured wearing. Maybe she knew more about this wedding planning than she thought.

Amy spent the rest of the day texting with Sheldon and approving dresses for Penny and Bernadette to try on. They didn't make any choices on the bridesmaid's dresses, but they each had a few favorites that they were going to think on. Amy had been leaning toward gray and blue as wedding colors, but both Penny and Bernadette wanted pink. She couldn't help but admit that they both looked very good in pink. It was hard choosing. Amy couldn't have been happier to get home to Sheldon that night.

"Hey, kid. Did you find what you were looking for," Sheldon said upon seeing a very tired looking Amy come through the door.

Sheldon was sitting at his computer desk and Amy went over to him and sat on his lap. "I found a great dress for me, but I can't show it to you. As for finding dresses for Penny and Bernadette, I'm still trying to decide," Amy said just before she kissed Sheldon on the lips. He had his arm around her waist, holding her up.

"How was your game?" Amy asked.

"I'll have you know that it is not a game. It's warfare. With paintballs, but it went well. We won, but suffered both Raj and Leonard as casualties," he told her.

She kissed his face a couple more times and said, "At least you survived, my hero."

"Did you have dinner? I could make you something," Sheldon offered.

"Does that mean that you don't want to make out with me?"

"No. It means that I want you at full strength before I ravish you," Sheldon said with a smirk.

"You're going to ravish me, huh? I guess I better have something to eat then."

"That's my girl," Sheldon said as Amy stood up. He reached over and playfully slapped her ass.

"It's like you are a different person," Amy said as she giggled.

"So are you, Miss all-physical-contact-is-off-the-table. You've made me a better person, that's why I want to marry you so much. With you, I'm bound to win that Nobel Prize."

Sheldon brought Amy a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of soup. He put exactly seven goldfish crackers in her soup and then grabbed some food for himself. She ate her dinner and loved that Sheldon was so thoughtful.

"You are too good to me," she told him.

"No one could be too good to you," Sheldon said seriously.


End file.
